Jean-Maurice Chevalley
Jean-Maurice Chevalley, architect
I’ve a vague idea why a career which combines artistic, technical and human qualities can be appealing, but each individual can have a different motivation for becoming an architect. What’s yours ?
I started when I was about 13 or 14, by clearing out the attic of my parents’ farmhouse to create a room of my own. It was the DIY aspect, working to a real scale, which particularly interested me, before I had the idea of becoming an architect. My school had organised a day’s visit to EPF-L (the Federal Polytechnical School in Lausanne) and I had enrolled myself for chemistry, civil engineering and architecture. Once I’d seen the architectural workshops, with plans and models everywhere, not to mention the music, food and drink available, I didn’t go to see the civil engineering or chemistry departments : my choice was already made.
Having finished my studies, and after some fascinating work-experience in Morocco, I had some further experience working down in the valley, then I joined the architectural firm Le Triangle. When the partner responsible for the Les Diablerets office left the company I took over the office and became my own employer.
The role of my profession is to get as close as possible to the wishes of a client (the Maître de l’Ouvrage) and to fulfil these wishes within the scope of his or her budget and taking into account the numerous regulations and innumerable provisions governing the construction of a building.
When the building is finished and the bill paid, one’s clients often become one’s friends : that’s a nice « bonus » and the proof that one has done the job correctly.
If there weren’t so many restrictive regulations, which don’t even serve to protect us from inferior architecture, constructing housing for people or work spaces for every possible industry (that’s to say architecture) would certainly be one of the best professions in the world !
Jean-Maurice Chevalley, architecte, Sàrl.
Rue de la Gare
1865 Les Diablerets
024 492 31 77
Translation : Gordon Douglas