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Behnisch Architekten wins Architectural Competition for Agora Cancer Centre in Lausanne

2013-01-24T19:33:00-05:00

Behnisch Architekten's Stuttgart office has won the two-stage architectural competition established by the ISREC Foundation (Swiss Institute for experimental cancer research) to create a new home for the AGORA - Cancer Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland. The AGORA - Cancer Centre exists specifically to bring together scientists and practitioners under one roof as part of a community of expertise. The opportunity for enhancing communication within the new building was a major focus of the competition. The project represents an outstanding architectural and programmatic challenge wherein integrating the building’s diverse requirements within an extremely heterogeneous and tight urban fabric places great demands on the design concept. The scheme of Behnisch Architekten was selected for its ability to address these concerns in a very holistic architectural yet functional way. Set for completion in 2016, the new Cancer Centre will accommodate 400 researchers and clinicians.

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Memorial to a Buried Village

2012-10-17T14:18:00-04:00

Inspired by many hiking trips that the two students from China have enjoyed during their studies at ETHZ, the entry is based on the idea of a hypothetical mudflow in the Swiss Alps burying a village. The project works with columns of transparent thermoplastic planted into the earth as a metaphorical representation of the former village. Sunlight is being transmitted through the columns into the subterranean space, where they illuminate a poetic memory of the former rooms in the buried houses.

Breaking new ground : Le Corbusier still a key figure for young architects

2012-10-07T18:35:00-04:00

Le Corbusier, Herzog & De Meuron, Mario Botta and Peter Zumthor - to mention only the most prominent names - have put Swiss architecture on the world map. The younger generation has not yet achieved the same celebrity, but it is striking out in new directions of its own. For the 125th anniversary of the birth of Le Corbusier, swissinfo.ch talked to art historian Lorette Coen about current trends in Swiss architecture.

Swiss Freeports Are Home for a Growing Treasury of Art

2012-07-23T19:33:00-04:00

Though little known outside the art world, this surprisingly drab series of buildings is renowned by dealers and collectors as the premier place to stash their most valuable works.

Swiss Clockwork Embassy in Yaoundé, Cameroon

2012-05-18T12:52:00-04:00

London/Paris-based practice Matteo Cainer Architects Ltd has sent us its competition entry for the new Swiss embassy building in Yaoundé, the capital city of Cameroon, West Africa. The design is a play on the precision of Swiss clockwork mechanism and traditional Cameroon Musgum housing.

Peter Zumthor loses bid for Vals thermal baths

2012-03-13T00:19:00-04:00

Swiss star architect Peter Zumthor has lost a battle for ownership of the spa and hotel complex in Vals, eastern Switzerland, which he designed. The commune, which owns the complex, decided on Friday night to sell it to 35-year-old property developer Remo Stoffel.

An interview with Jacques Herzog

2012-02-09T11:14:00-05:00

In this uniformity, I see a tendency among architects to respect and maintain the status quo, and a consensus about what architecture is and can do for our society. That’s the expression of a decorative understanding of architecture, even if it expresses itself in a subtle, modernist language. (Jacques Herzog)

On Places, Jacques Herzog discusses the recent work of Herzog & de Meuron and the challenges of maintaining a creatively vital practice, in an interview with Hubertus Adam and J. Christoph Burkle.

Vevey Office Building by A/ZC and Architram

2011-06-17T15:25:33-04:00

Paris-based Atelier Zündel & Cristea Architects (A/ZC) has shared with us their entry for a competition that seeks to densen the urban fabric of Vevey, a Swiss town on the north shore of Lake Geneva. The project is a collaboration with Swiss firm Architram.

Villa Vals by SeARCH and Christian Muller Architects

2011-05-22T16:58:16-04:00

Archinect's Building of the Day series is brought to you by our friends at OpenBuildings.com, the web's most comprehensive directory of buildings.

Shouldn’t it be possible to conceal a house in an Alpine slope while still exploiting the wonderful views and allowing light to enter the building?

SeARCH and Christian Muller Architects designed this gorgeous private holiday villa in Switzerland, located near the thermal springs of Therme Vals. A truly inspiring sight to behold!

Surprised that it was permissible to construct a pair of dwellings so close to the world famous thermal bath of Vals, the client seized the opportunity to develop the site, without disturbing the bath’s expansive views. The introduction of a central patio into the steep incline creates a large façade with considerable potential for window openings. The viewing angle from the building is slightly inclined, giving an even more dramatic view of the strikingly beautiful mountains on the opposite side of...

Winner of the Negrellisteg Crossing Competition Announced

2011-04-28T14:03:52-04:00

Paris-based Explorations Architecture, together with engineering firms Flint & Neill and Arup Lighting have won the international competition to design the Negrellisteg crossing, a pedestrian bridge, over the Hauptbahnhof railways in downtown Zurich, Switzerland. The competition was held by the City of Zurich with 12 shortlisted teams.

Libeskind pool ceiling collapses in Bern

2011-04-19T12:03:00-04:00

The ceiling of a retail and leisure centre designed by Daniel Libeskind has collapsed for the second time in three years in the Swiss capital of Bern. Two people were injured and one was treated for shock following the accident, which happened on April 12 in the swimming pool area of the city’s Westside centre.