Campus - 05.10.2026 - 15:30
On 1 October 2026, there was a lot of activity in the Residency Grid at SQUARE. Instead of prominent figures from Switzerland and abroad, starting at 10 a.m. and with numbers growing throughout the day, a group of builders were hard at work, deeply focused on virtually recreating the building they were sitting in within Minecraft. With over 425 million copies sold, Minecraft is the best-selling video game in the world to date. The open-world game has over 140 million monthly active users.
A good dozen people dedicated themselves to the task of recreating the interior and exterior of SQUARE. Many curious onlookers stopped by to get a sense of the work or out of interest in what was being created here. There were a few challenges along the way: Since a block in Minecraft measures one cubic meter, many of the pieces of furniture in SQUARE could not be recreated to scale. This called for creativity. It helped that the team was on-site, as this allowed them to explore the building firsthand at any time and take photos to test their solutions and adjust them as needed. The game’s coordinate system presented a particular difficulty: Due to SQUARE’s actual geographical orientation, construction had to be done diagonally. This was a challenging task, especially in long, narrow rooms, but the team mastered it well. “With time, our team managed to get the hang of it and I believe creativity shone more. It being built diagonally means the building looks sharper, more striking and stands out from ordinary buildings and it becomes beauty of its own,” said Leo Dong, president of the HSG Gaming Club.
“Our goal is to recreate Switzerland, Austria, and Liechtenstein 1:1 in Minecraft,” says Sandro Lenz, a member of the PR team at Alps BTE. “Right now, we’ve only covered less than one percent of the total area. But there are already numerous buildings, especially in cities like Zurich, Lausanne, Graz, and Vienna.” So there’s still a lot of work to be done. That’s why Alps BTE is always looking for motivated Minecraft fans to help turn this vision into reality. Currently, the community has nearly 700 builders and 3,500 members on Discord. “We welcome all motivated builders who actively contribute,” says Sandro Lenz. After all, following the cathedral and the St.Gallen train station, SQUARE is now another landmark of the city of St.Gallen that has been built. More will follow. Alps BTE is part of the international project BuildTheEarth, whose goal is to recreate the entire Earth.
The partnership between SQUARE and the HSG Gaming Club will continue into the fall semester of 2026: The Cinema@SQUARE event series in the Wiborada Room will feature film adaptations of popular video games in November. The series kicks off with “Ready Player One” on November 10, followed by “Tetris” on November 17 and “A Minecraft Movie” on November 24. As always, admission is free and popcorn is provided at no cost. However, you must register in advance—seats are limited.
Images: Corinne Riedener
