During this period, the first new buildings for postal operations were built, financed by federal funds and adorned with artistic ornamentation. One such example is the main post office in Lucerne with statues by Karl Alfred Lanz. The Swiss federal state was founded in , and the post office was its only central government institution for many years.
It therefore played a decisive role in shaping the identity of the still young and culturally diverse nation. Initially, however, the FAC was not involved in awarding artistic commissions for post office buildings. The Federal Department of Planning or the postal administration often assigned these directly, without the involvement of FAC members. It was not until the mids that the FAC took the lead in the art-in-architecture competitions. During this time, the idea of investing one percent of the construction sum in artistic works was born, and in , the PTT General Management introduced this as a regular practice.
Art-in-architecture commissions were a vital means of support for artists in need during the Great Depression and the Second World War into the s. To this day, such projects are an important source of income for artists. This was not least connected with new construction methods. As for the motifs, until the s the artistic interventions mainly focused on glorifying the achievements of the PTT services post office, telephone, telegraphy. Later, the artworks looked beyond PTT themes for their subject matter.
At times, art-in-architecture projects have also served to increase the acceptance of buildings, often modernist ones, that had been subject to public criticism.
Starting in , it was no longer the Federal Department of Planning but the PTT itself that was responsible for the construction of post office buildings. In , the art-in-architecture projects were placed under the oversight of the Swiss Post Real Estate Unit. It assists with the maintenance and upkeep of the artworks and provides advice on structural adjustments to the environment where they are located.
