Anthologie - Böcker

Frank Schneider, Cornelia Mattiello-Schwaller and Mike Mattiello, all three of whom were born in Solothurn but are now based in Zurich, have produced numerous competition successes. They became internationally renowned with their metal workshop design for the Zurich Dynamo youth centre, which was designed in a gripping "unity of materials". This volume compiles the buildings and projects they have produced since then.Text in German with an English insert.

Recently, the three Lausanne architects united under the programmatic name of Localarchitecture have completed exciting projects that generally pursue the same strategy: The architects reflect the location, the surroundings, the conditions of the task and derive their own formulae from them, often with inventive nuances and form deviations of traditional concepts that have a poetic appearance.Text in German with an English insert.

The young Zurich architects Ralph Blättler and Gilles Dafflon meticulously and intensely pursue a wide range of architectural tasks, be they smaller, rigorously developed conversions, well-conceived residential buildings or larger projects following competition success, in which they implement the experience they have gathered among renowned international architects. Text in German.

In 2006, Pirmin Amrein and Claudio Herzig produced an exemplary contemporary replacement for a farmhouse. The stringent building volume has diverse analogies with traditional farmhouses and is able to further develop the simplicity and nobility of the traditional type. Other notable residential buildings by the Central Swiss architects have all been developed with sophisticated floor plans and spatial disposition. Text in German.

Each design by the architects Valéry Clavien and Nicola Rossier, who work in Geneva and the Wallis region, consistently or even radically implements a design concept. For instance above an untouched basement floor, a small rural building with a new upper level was created with diverse, ingenious references to the basement floor and the new residential use.Text in German with English translation sheet.

The young Zurich architects Caroline Fiechter and René Salzmann have already enjoyed a number of competition successes, including a school building with a wonderful appearance in Ballwil LU, which was achieved using red-washed timber. Its expression skilfully shifts between appropriate nobility and a warm radiance that is compatible with the world of children. Text in German.

In the Upper Valais region, the Lucerne-based Roman Hutter has produced three stringently designed wooden buildings since 2010 that are constructed using a traditional log-building method. Other competition successes that are still in the planning phase evoke rich moods and lead to a precise architectural expression. Text in English and German.

Nikolaus Hamburger, Dario Pfammatter and Francisco Ferrandiz are the protagonists of the Zurich office HDPF. Within only a few years, the architects have produced an impressive oeuvre. The projects are mostly apartment buildings and single-family homes that are incisive in terms of their structural clarity, stringent material selection, the sculptural quality of their exterior and their pronounced tectonics.Text in German. Extra sheet with English translation included.

Anja Beer and David Merz founded their own office in Basel in 2010. Their smaller buildings, a residential home and housing renovation projects pursue the noble aim of consideration, respect and integration. Their intelligently developed solutions are orientated towards the functions of their buildings and the given existing structures.Text in English and German.

Since 2009, the two Basel architects Fabio Felippi and Thomas Wyssen have completed several fine buildings and conversions. They are precise structures that have been developed with extreme care out of themes such as structural presentation, conscious tectonics, typological clarity and a meticulous materialisation that alternates between coarse qualities and elaborate surface treatment. Text in English and German.

Since 2012, the two Locarno architects Matteo Inches and Nastasja Geleta have been designing a number of exquisite buildings, each developed entirely out of the atmosphere of the location and the nearby surroundings. With an exceptional affinity to construction and spatial expression, the impressive structures are concisely integrated into the continuum of the context. Text in English and German.

In 2013, Lilitt Bollinger founded her own office in Nuglar near Basel. Since then, the office has produced a number of refined conversions that are entirely developed out of the atmosphere of the building and location. The pronounced affinity to construction and spatial expression gives the buildings their unique atmosphere. Text in English and German.

In 2016, Dario Franchini and Diego Calderon founded two offices, one in Lugano and one in London. Since then, they have completed a number of small conversions and buildings with an experimental character. For the Palazzo del Cinema in Locarno, they carried out a relatively large conversion project including heightening measures. Their interventions are both precise and clinical.Text in English and German.

Jonas Staehelin and Stephan Meyer are among a promising young generation of architects in Basel. Their conversions and housing have their own hallmark, an outstanding sense ofexciting interior spaces and a high degree of precision in formulating details. Their designs are characterised by particular elegance and dignity.Text in English and German.

Lara and Yves Reinacher are the protagonists of this Zurich architectural office. Following numerous competition successes, the architects have built several housing developments and a school in the community of Haut-Vully, Canton of Fribourg. Their buildings are always precisely placed into their surroundings and reflect an unerring architectural instinct.Text in English and German.

Following his studies at the Accademia di Architettura in Mendrisio and various internships, Andreas Heierle founded his Atelier für Architektur in Lucerne in 2012. Since then, he has produced a number of architectural gems, including a small,elegant residential building with three courtyards in Romania and a school in the community of Crissier, Canton of Vaud, which is naturally integrated into the landscape.Text in English and German.

In 2006, Laurent de Wurstemberger founded the Atelier ar-ter in Carouge with two partners, and in 2011, along with the material scientist Rodrigo Fernandez, the company Terrabloc, which turns excavated material from construction sites into compacted clay blocks. In 2018, he opened his architectural practice in Geneva and has since completed a number of smaller, more sophisticated projects, including the renovation of a farm in Choully (GE).Text in English and German.

Tom Munz established his St. Gallen office in 2013. Since then, he has produced a number of extremely high-quality buildings that are always developed with a special interest in structural and tectonic expression. For instance Wohnhaus Holzenstein in Romanshorn is a design inspired by Modernism, thriving on the interaction between reserved, beige-stained concrete wall surfaces and wooden window elements to achieve an extremely poetic radiance.Text in English and German.

In 2006, Laurent de Wurstemberger founded the Atelier ar-ter in Carouge with two partners, and in 2011, along with the material scientist Rodrigo Fernandez, the company Terrabloc, which turns excavated material from construction sites into compacted clay blocks. In 2018, he opened his architectural practice in Geneva and has since completed a number of smaller, more sophisticated projects, including the renovation of a farm in Choully (GE).Text in English and French.

Patrick Jaeger and Ariel Koechlin have been leading their architectural practice in Basel since 2013. Here they have created a small school building in wood with a cheerful, warm appearance, several residential buildings and a number of conversions: for example, the Grünhagweg residential building in Liestal, in which the usual repertoire of forms of a residential building exterior is exaggerated and ennobled; or the Lysbüchel residential building in Basel, which has a raw appearance and whose floor plans allow for experimental variability. Text in English and German.

After studying medicine, Guillaume Yersin earned a Master's degree in architecture at ETH Zurich. In 2012, he founded his own office, SAAS, in Geneva and has since realised several smaller, exquisite buildings that bear witness to an exceptional sense of construction: for example, an observation platform over the Rhone in Bernex, which - constructed in wood - pointedly expresses architectural themes such as supporting, bearing and joining.Text in English and German.

For Zurich architect Stefan Wülser, architecture is not reduced to the craft of designing and implementing the design, but also involves thinking about its socio-cultural significance in contemporary society. With the house in Bassersdorf, for example, he developed a programmatic building that rises above an existing supporting structure in a direct, bricollage-like construction that is gestural and expressive. With an article by Tibor Joanelly.Text in English and German.

The Spanish architect Javier Müller has managed his office in Geneva since 2017. His striving for radical reduction is manifested in timeless architecture that fully exploits its social potential. Subtle measures and the economic application of means creates uncontrived architecture in which the form entirely serves the function and its users’ quality of life. One example of such abstraction through rationalisation is the conversion of Duplex B in Bernex. Liberated from all unnecessary elements, this timeless architecture is exclusively defined by geometry, light and spatial proportions. Text in English and German.

Since 2010, Marcel Baumgartner has worked in his Zurich office on projects with a wide range of tasks and scales, including prolific competition participation. In 2020, Claudia Loewe joined him, co-founding the company Baumgartner Loewe Architekten in 2022. Their design stance is characterised by committed engagement with current building tasks and respect for existing architectural structures. For example, in the case of the extension to Röhrliberg School in Cham, they assumed the historical grid, while carefully selecting materials and colours to ensure an impressive, harmonious synthesis of old and new elements.Text in English and German.

soppelsa Architekten focuses on the relationship between spaces – their qualities, materialisation, proportions and light guidance – and the project programme. Already in the early years after founding their office in 2012, the brothers Mario and Nino Soppelsa managed to apply that approach in a number of competition successes. In 2015, the semi-detached house in Esslingen was their first constructed project. However, their work is not limited to housing and also includes successful projects on all scales: their Hagmannareal Winterthur-Seen residential estate has won several awards, while their newly constructed Oberrüti double sports hall was included in the list of Best Architects 2023. Text in English and German.

The spectrum of the young Baden-based office Kollektiv Marudo ranges from conversion and renovation projects to large housing estates. Its founders Alexander Athanas, Ole Bühlmann and Rafael Zulauf strive to achieve sustainable architecture through the integral observation of each building task, while its innovative character never contradicts tried and trusted approaches. Instead, their architecture unfolds between the coordinates of flexibility, local and use-related specifics, and innovation, representing consistent further developments of existing qualities. One such example is the new Brühl school facility in Solothurn, which was completed in 2022: the collective was founded in 2018 after winning the project competition. With an article by Bertram Ernst.Text in English and German.

The architecture of the Bern-based practice Fritschi Beis transforms landscapes, spaces and buildings, giving them a new quality. In doing so, the practice unites familiar and contemporary aspects, inspired by the diversity of our society. For example, the renovation of the famous concert hall “Mühle Hunziken” in Rubigen continues to weave the unique dialogue between art, local “Brocki” stores and architecture in its very unique vocabulary.Text in English and German.

Founded in 2010 in Lausanne, the practice of Valentin Kunik and Guillaume de Morsier is shaped by its context-related projects, which are often implemented in experimental collaboration with engineers, photographers, philosophers and scenographers. The resulting spaces interact with their environment. For example, the Le Pont residential building is completely made of wood and based on an innovative construction system.Text in English and German.