APTUM is a design and architecture firm based in the United States (Aptum Design) and Switzerland (Aptum Architecture), which was founded in 2002 by Roger Hubeli and Julie Larsen.
In classical rhetoric and fine art, [aptum] is described as the ‘right relationship between words or forms’. Rather than just a formal principal, we see this term as a challenge to design architecture that is driven by each project’s close 'fit' to its surroundings | contexts | ecological systems. We are thus interested in the notion of liminality – the transitional or marginal conditions and spaces that allow systems | interactions | or ecologies to migrate into another.
Integral to this approach is an in-depth understanding of the methods and processes of the surrounding ecologies (environmental, economical, social etc.) to a place and its effects on the architecture that resides within it. Consequently, our work finds it’s tectonic through an intensive experimentation and engagement with a structural and material context. These investigations partake in all our work, from exhibitions, to small-scale projects to the design of large urban interventions.
We have been engaged with the current architectural discourse since starting the firm in 2002. We pursued our academic career in architecture at University of Michigan, ETH in Zurich with the chair of Marc Angélil, and at University of Illinois. Currently, we are holding Assistant Professor positions at Syracuse University. Julie Larsen received her M.Arch from Columbia University, NY. Roger Hubeli received his M.Arch (diploma) from the ETH in Zürich. He is a member of the SIA (Association of Swiss Engineers and Architects). We also were recent fellows at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire.
While continuing to immerse ourselves in the contemporary discourse and practice, we call upon our innovative partners including landscape architects, artists, choreographers, writers, environmentalists, engineers and builders to contribute and shape each project. We engage our collaborators as experts in their own field and immerse ourselves in how we can infect and cross-pollinate into each other's methodologies and approaches to the discipline of architecture.
