Stefan Lippe, CEO, Swiss Re
Final bill could be $6-12 billion
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The cost of last week’s earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, is expected to be around $800 million, based on currently available information, Swiss Re says in a statement issued Thursday 3 March. The company’s chief executive Stefan Lippe notes that the human toll, in deaths and injuries, is heavy “despite the advanced risk prevention measures that are in place in New Zealand”.
The final cost could be $6 to 12 billion for the total range of loss to the insurance industry.
Buildings are insured by the government’s earthquake commission for up to about $75,000 for the building and $15,000 for contents. Home-owners can buy additional coverage.
Vevey builds on slogan, Vevey, Ville d’images: visual arts festival walls, now Chaplin murals
First Gilamont tower, white one with Chaplin frescoe, Vevey (photo ©2010 overthemoon on flickr). Second tower, to be completed in 2011, will be black.
Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Charlie Chaplin is truly larger than life, now, thanks to Vevey’s ambitious project to paint him and his work as a filmmaker onto two 14-storey apartment blocks near the autoroute. The first of what will be the two largest frescoes in Switzerland were officially inaugurated Tuesday 28 September, but Vevey residents have been watching the paint job and more for several months.
“And more”: the initial project was to revive two aging and dispirited-looking buildings that were built from 1967-69 to provide 140 moderate-rent apartments. The city, which owns them, wanted to renovate the two towers, 140 metres high, make them far more energy efficient and bring the neighbourhood back to life.
When a resident of one of the towers suggested adding monotone Chaplin frescoes to the black and white buildings theme that had been proposed, the city was delighted, says mayor Laurent Balliff.
All the better that the buildings are close to a new Chaplin museum, under development, Chaplin’s World. Charlie Chaplin lived the last 25 years of his life at the nearby Manoir de Ban, in Corsier-sur-Vevey. The lakefront statue of Charlie Chaplin on the quay Perdonnet is said by the town of Vevey to be one of the most photographed spots in the Lake Geneva region.
A ton of paint and 100 rollers
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss federal government Thursday 20 May approved a package of CHF10 million to increase security around international organizations such as the UN Palais building in Geneva. The host government is responsible, under international law, for securing the outside and approach areas for these buildings, including walls and fences. Bern provided no details about what organizations will have reinforced security.
Security measures have been increasingly stepped up since 2003, following attacks on buildings in Baghdad.
It will take Haiti a decade to rebuild, says engineers testing buildings in the country badly damaged by a 12 January earthquake. The UN has estimated that 20 percent of the buildings collapsed and 80 percent of those remaining are damaged. Volunteer engineers who are checking the buildings one by one say that many are too safe to be left standing, reports NPR.
New York fire escapes, lower Manhattan
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Engineering methods are used to evaluate how people behave and move when fire strikes buildings, and the International Standards Organization in Geneva has just approved a new standard for this technical information. It provides information on the life-safety aspects of fire-safety engineering design, to improve how buildings but also tunnels, underground complexes, ships and vehicles are designed, to make them safer, escape easier, and to reduce exposure to flames and heat.
Home, sweet (green?) home, Carouge, Geneva
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Homeowners grabbed at the chance to get energy certificates at a bargain rate, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) says, with 15,000 energy certificates sold in only three weeks following the announcement that a certificate and annexed expert report would cost only CHF200 instead of the usual CHF1,200. The cantonal building energy certificate (CECB) establishes the energy efficiency of a building and is useful as a guide to current and future energy use.
Title: Lantern festival
Location: Geneva
Link out: Click here
Description: Paper lantern-making and lantern festival. Free. For adults and kids.
Start Date: 10 Nov 2008
End Date: 11 Nov 2008
