Switzerland

SABINE NEMEC-PIGUET obtained a Master’s degree in architecture from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – EPFL in 1978, with a thesis on the conversion of an industrial district in the city of Geneva.
In 1979-80, she worked for the Centre d’étude technique pour l’amélioration de l’habitat (University of Geneva) on a mandate for the evaluation of renovation costs and the survey of old buildings in a historic district of Geneva. This study was the first step in drawing up a plan for the protection of this district. After working as an architect for the Geneva Department of Monuments and Sites, she was its director from 2002 to 2008. From 2008 until her retirement in 2019, she held the position of Cantonal Curator of Monuments and Director General of the Office du Patrimoine et des Sites du Canton de Genève, which comprises three departments: Monuments et Sites, Inventaire, Archéologie. As part of her duties, she has served on several architectural competition juries, organized lecture series, edited publications on cultural heritage, and written articles. In 2017, she was a founding member of the Fondation Clarté on behalf of the Canton of Geneva, following the inscription of Le Corbusier’s work on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
From 1999 to 2011, she was a member of the Federal Commission for Nature and Landscape Protection. From 2012 to 2023, she was a member and vice-president of the Federal Commission for the Preservation of Historic Monuments.
Since 2020, she has been active in Europa Nostra as a member of the Board, a member of the jury for the Europa Nostra Awards and President of the jury for the “Research” category in 2022 and 2023.
She has been President of ICOMOS Switzerland since May 2024.