1850's Geneva in 3D

In the nineteenth century Swiss architect Auguste Magnin created an amazing 3d model of the walled city of Geneva. You can visit the model at the Maison Tavel in Geneva. If you can't get to Geneva then you will need to visit Geneve 1850 instead.

Geneve 1850 is an epic online interactive model of 1850's Geneva. The map allows you to immerse yourself in and explore Geneva as it looked in the mid-nineteenth century. To create this digital model of historic Geneva engineers scanned Magnin's original model in high definition. They were then able to recreate the 2,000 buildings (and their 40,000 windows and 8,000 skylights) in this digital model of the original.

The result is truly impressive. You can explore the city at street level, wandering around old Geneva on the ground. Alternatively you can take a bird's eye view tour of the city, flying a few feet above the city's rooftops. A menu provides a long list of important landmarks in the city which allows you to quickly navigate to different places in the city. Information points on the map also allow you to read about the history of the city's most iconic buildings.

Mapping Geneva's Regeneration

The Jardin des Nations project in Geneva is slowly transforming the International District of the city. The project involves the construction of new buildings, the extension of the tram network and new road infrastructure. Le Temps has released a story map Les Grands Chantiers de la Genève Internationale (The Major Projects of Geneva International) exploring some of the major changes taking place in the district.

To navigate the map you just need to scroll down on the website. As you scroll through the story map you can view photos and plans of the new construction projects in the side panel, while the map zooms and pans to highlight the projects on the map. The side panel also includes text (in French) explaining each project and each project's construction date.