Gegenwart mit Zukunft
Interview with Markus Schaefer, Archithese: Fundamental Palace, 05/14
Salon Suisse
2014
Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia
Venice, Italy
Collateral Event of the 14th International Architecture Exhibition - la Biennale di Venezia
Hiromi Hosoya and Markus Schaefer
Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi, Venice
Esther Reinhardt
Brigitte Lampert and Katharina Hofer
Das Magazin; Specialist journals TEC21, Tracés, archi / www.espazium.ch; Opendata.ch; werk, bauen + wohnen
Laufen Bathrooms AG; Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction; technologycluster-zug, V-ZUG Immobilien AG; Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects (SIA); USM U. Schärer Söhne AG; Cassina
biennials.ch
Swiss Federal Archives, Berne; Swiss National Library – Prints and Drawings Department, Berne; Swiss National Museum, Zurich; Fondation Franz Weber, Montreux; Green Party of Switzerland Kanton Zurich, Zurich; Verein Alpen-Initiative and Swiss Museum of Transport, Lucerne; FSA Federation of Swiss Architects
Rachele Maistrello
Complementing the exhibition at the Pavilion of Switzerland at the 14th International Architecture Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia organized a Collateral Event entitled «Salon Suisse». The «Salon Suisse» is a programme of talks and events offering a platform for exchange on contemporary architecture and thought in a relaxed atmosphere.
The «Salon Suisse» of the 14th International Architecture Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia was curated by Hosoya Schaefer Architects, who have put together an ambitious programme of events focusing on questions around urban development in Switzerland and the increasing pressure of urbanization worldwide.
A detailed programme of the «Salon Suisse» is available here.
The events were modelled after a Constitutional Assembly and serve as a thought experiment in critical urbanity. Projecting the Biennale’s preoccupation with the last century into the future and using the historic arc of the Venetian city state as a backdrop, how can the next 100 years be envisioned in an increasingly urban and volatile world? What would a contemporary conception for Switzerland be in this context? If it had to be founded today, what would be its guiding principles, its business model and its social contract? And how could architecture and urban design support such an endeavour; to what extent do these disciplines need to be political?
To discuss these questions the curators invited thinkers, practitioners and activists to envision such a state and ultimately a physical environment inspired by but without the gritty detail of today’s political reality.
The opening event took place on June 7 2014 as an «Inaugural Session» accompanied by a brunch. During this initial short statements from Swiss and international practitioners on possible «Scenarios for an Alpine City State» were collected as a missive for the Salons to come.
The First Salon (4 to 6 September 2014) «Design – The Nature of Cities» established a shared understanding of cities and of the state of the contemporary urban system with the participation of urban geographer Edward D. Soja, science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson, complex systems scientist Didier Sornette or anthropologist and activist David Graeber amongst several others.
The Second Salon (9 to 11 October 2014) «Build – The Reality of Cities» questioned how urban ideas become reality. The discussion included politicians, entrepreneurs and practitioners such as Japanese architectural planner Yasuaki Onoda and the urban designers Jan Gehl, Marc Angélil and Yoshiharu Tsukamoto among others.
The Third Salon (30 October to 1 November 2014) «Use – The Culture of Cities» approached the theme of how culture emerges within a city. The speakers included author and co-founder of Neustart Schweiz Hans Widmer as well as Opendata.ch co-founder Hannes Gassert. Norihito Nakatani and Jiang Jun, contributors of the Japanese and Chinese pavilions respectively, discussed their research on more traditional forms of collectives with among others Mark Leonard, Co-Founder and Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, the first pan-European think-tank.
The «Final Assembly», the closing event of the «Salon Suisse» 2014 (20 to 22 November 2014), had its focus on summarizing and editing the results of the Salon in collaboration with writers and journalists such as Lukas Bärfuss or Finn Canonica who accompanied the entire series by recording and intervening.
Interview with Markus Schaefer, Archithese: Fundamental Palace, 05/14
Morgentalquartier, Wetzikon, 2020 –
Program: Housing
Current state: Phase 51 and 52, under construction
Haus Myrte, Wädenswil, 2022 –
Program: Transformation of historical building
Current state: Phases 51 and 52, under construction
Station Square and Roof, Herisau 2015 –
Program: Station square, station roof, bus roof
Current state: Phase 41, under construction (partially)
MEWA-Areal, Wädenswil, 2018 –
Program: Culture, Restaurant, Housing, Retail
Current state: Phase 31, preliminary design
Wilhelmsburg Rowing Clug, Wilhelmsburg (D), 2020 –
Program: Clubhouse, boat hall
Current state: Execution Pla
House A, Geneva, 2021 –
Program: Residential house
Current state: Renovation, ongoing
Primary School Christoph Merian, Basel, 2019 –
Program: School
Current state: ongoing
Herriberg-Feldmeilen station, 2020 –
Program: Retail, housing, bus yard
Current state: framework plan
Airport Engadin, St. Moritz, 2020 –
Current phase: construction project
Cooperative Housing, Wetzikon, 2020 –
Current phase: tender
Fabrik.sg, 2020 –
Current phase: Project phases design to operation
Boulevard, ETHZ Hönggerberg Campus, 2020 –
Program: Campus Boulevard redesign (with Studio Vulkan)
Current state: ongoing
Viererfeld, Bern, 2018 –
Program: Housing
Current state: on hold
Bahnhof Romanshorn, 2022 –
Current state: study (with Sudio Vulkan)
Kaserne Aarau, 2022 –
Current state: urban framework
Areale Wittenbach, 2022 –
Current state: urban design commission
Stiftungsareal Neumünster, 2022 –
Current state: study
Kieler Schloss, 2022 –
Current state: Public think tank on usage and architecture
Campus Heidelberg, 2021 –
Current state: Masterplan process, in-depth studies
Otterbach Süd, 2020 –
Current state: urban framework plan
Innovation Park Bergedorf, 2020 –
Current state: urban framework
Station Area Dietikon, 2019 –
Current state: urban framework plan
Campus Bochum, 2018 –
Current state: project support
Metalli, Zug, 2017 –
Current state: project support
Bahnstadt Nürtingen, 2017 –
Current state: project support
Areal Neugasse Zürich, 2016 –
Current state: completion of master plan, public consultation
Elbinselquartier Wilhelmsburg, Hamburg, 2015 –
Current state: project support
Tech Cluster Zug, 2015 –
Current state: transformation plan
Station Herisau, 2013 –
Current state: areal development
KNZ Wil West, Thurgau / St. Gallen, 2011 –
Current state: project support
Metaverse, 2022 –
Current state: ongoing
Entwicklungskonzept Würzenbach, 2022 –
Current state: ongoing
ESP Hochdorf, 2021 –
Current state: spatial-urban as well as use- and circular-based development concept
Deep Urbanism, 2021 –
Current state: ongoing
cividi gmbh – civic data intelligence, 2019 –
Digital tools for the analogue city
Current state: ongoing