Alpine advocate
Having studied architecture at ETH, Franziska Biner now serves as a member of the Valais cantonal government. A native of a mountain village, she works to promote the interests of people in Switzerland’s Alpine regions.
Just three-and-a-half weeks into her new job as a member of the cantonal government, Franziska Biner was confronted with a devastating disaster: on 28 May 2025, the village of Blatten in the canton of Valais was annihilated by a massive avalanche of ice and rock. That, she says, was when she began to feel as though she were living “life at the limit”, with days starting at five in the morning and stretching late into the night. “You can take precautions to reduce the risk of such extreme events,” says Biner, an architect by training, “and once they happen, you can focus on rebuilding. But when mountainsides collapse, we’re powerless. A landslide on that scale simply can’t be stopped.”
Robots in action
This text appeared in the 25/04 issue of the ETH magazine Globe.
Biner has long understood what it means to be at the mercy of nature. When growing up, her hometown of Zermatt was regularly cut off from the outside world, and school would sometimes be cancelled because of heavy snow or the threat of avalanches. Back then, she often accompanied her grandparents out into the mountains – her grandfather kept sheep, her father goats. Life on the family’s alpine smallholding was hard work, yet there was still time to play in the snow with friends and pursue her passion for outdoor activities. Biner competed in ski races and joined her father, a mountain guide, on ski tours in winter and alpine hikes in summer. Spending so much time in the mountains, she says, makes you aware of how they change. And it teaches you to be more respectful of nature and understand it more deeply. “My grandfather always knew what the weather was going to do, and my father, as a mountain guide, had a keen sense of the risks involved,” says Biner, now 39. “That’s the kind of knowledge that gets handed down from one generation to the next.”
Leaving her hometown of Zermatt as a teenager was difficult, but in Switzerland pupils tend to make decisions early about their future career. Biner’s path started to take shape in a career advice session, when she was told she had the makings of a good architect. “My teacher said to me, ‘If you want to become an architect, you’ll need to go to a baccalaureate school’,” she recalls. Boarding school in Brig met that requirement, but the transition was far from easy: she battled homesickness and missed the Alpine landscape. At the end of secondary school, her interests had broadened: Should she study mathematics after all, or perhaps soci?ology or geography? The choice wasn’t easy. Then one day she came across a course brochure on architecture. “I’ve always been creative, and I suddenly realised that studying architecture would give me the opportunity to build models!” she says. That blend of creativity and technology, together with the breadth of the course, proved irresistible. In 2006 she enrolled on the Bachelor’s degree programme in architecture at ETH Zurich.
About
Franziska Biner is a member of the Valais cantonal government, where she heads the energy and finance department. Born in Zermatt, she holds a Master of Science in Architecture from ETH Zurich and spent 12 years working in an architectural practice. Her political career – as party president, substitute member and later full member of the Grand Council of Valais, and vice president of the municipality of Zermatt – culminated in her election to the cantonal government in the spring of 2025.
From Zermatt to Zurich
Wasn’t it a culture shock, moving from an Alpine canton to the city of Zurich? Not really, says Biner – the upheaval of moving from Zermatt to Brig had been far greater. At ETH Zurich, it took her a while to get used to the fast pace and intense pressure. But spending so much time with her fellow architecture students also had its upside: they soon forged a strong sense of camaraderie and were always there to share ideas and support each other. But even then, the aspiring architect still found time to enjoy the mountains. The week before starting her course, she made her first ascent of the Matterhorn, to?gether with her father; and throughout her studies, she still managed to squeeze in work as a ski instructor in Zermatt during the winter months. In addition to giving her a solid technical grounding, her studies taught Biner how to think systemically, to evaluate arguments and viewpoints objectively and to make well-founded decisions – without dismissing other people’s opinions. These are skills that continue to serve her well in government. But before her political career came a stint working in architecture. With her Master’s degree under her belt, she returned to Zermatt – but she ended up staying longer than planned after sustaining a knee injury in a skiing accident. However, she soon found a position at an architectural practice. “Seeing a building project through from the very first sketch to handing over the keys was immensely rewarding,” she says. Yet what appealed to her most was the construction site itself. “It’s where I feel most at home. I would have happily headed to work with the construction crew every morning!” she adds with characteristic warmth and energy. She relished the logistical and organisational challenges, the team spirit and even the noise and banter on the building site – so much so that she ended up working as a site manager herself.
Giving something back
Biner comes from a politically active family, and it soon became clear that she too was destined for a political career. While still working as an architect, she was invited to stand for public office – first as a municipal councillor in Zermatt, and later as a substitute member of the Grand Council of Valais. “In Switzerland, attending a top university is something that even ordinary people can afford. At ETH, I was taught by some of the best minds in the world; all I had to do was absorb the knowledge,” says Biner. “That’s an incredible privilege.” If she was fortunate enough to enjoy such opportunities, she felt, then she should also be willing to shoulder some responsibility. “I wanted to give something back – and that’s why I went into politics,” she says.
Biner’s political ascent was rapid: party presi?dent of Die Mitte Oberwallis, substitute and later full member of the Grand Council of Valais, vice president of the municipality of Zermatt and finally member of the cantonal government. Taking that final step was not an easy decision; Biner spent five weeks wrestling with doubts over whether to run for office. In March 2025, she won more votes than any other candidate in the first round and was directly elected to the Valais government. Yet even after this resounding success, doubts crept back in. Had she made the right choice? After years of working outdoors on construction sites, she suddenly found herself in the meeting rooms of the government building in Sion – a world that felt almost as unfamiliar as when she had left Zermatt for boarding school in Brig.
A site manager’s skills
Then came the landslide. Someone had to take responsibility in the midst of this crisis, taking decisions and standing up for those affected. It was an enormous task. “From the moment it happened, my doubts about being in the right job just melted away,” says Biner. In the aftermath, she realised she had a knack for handling crises. Many of the skills she drew on stemmed from her time working as a site manager, where she had to coordinate up to a hundred people with different interests and make pragmatic decisions on the spot. Today, she heads a strategy group that brings together the canton’s various departments to oversee the reconstruction of the village of Blatten. As a member of the cantonal government, she is also responsible for the construction and infrastructure office, a role where she can draw on her ETH background in urban planning.
Because she hails from the mountains herself and appreciates that natural disasters could strike any of the neighbouring valleys, locals see her as a credible partner. That connection also fuels her determination to see the crisis through. But a life lived at the limit also involves sacrifices, which is why one of her goals for the years ahead is to make more time for outdoor activities and the mountains she loves. In the meantime, she hopes to be able to give something back to the people in her canton. Best of all would be if one day people in Valais might remember her and say: she did everything she could – and she was there when we needed her.