I'm going to europe after graduation in december, and i'm looking to intern for a couple of months. Most likely in Switzerland
What cities are the most progressive/coolest and what are the firms that are making it happen, other than H&deM and Botta. Who are the local architects that are getting it done, Olgiati, Markli, ...?
jungfraujoch. it's the highest train station in europe (on top of a glacier and where one of the jame's bond movies was filmed - can't remember which at the moment) very cool place. bern is nice. lucern is awesome. a lot of people head to interlaken. check out the countryside.
don't miss the Thermal Baths at Vals. Zumthor is a master, and the 3 days that I spent there (with the UF Vicenza INstitue of Architecture Program) have greatly affected me. He really demonstrates the potential of materiality and spatial phenomenon. You willsee lay people looking around as if they were architects admiring the space, detailing etc...
Bern is great, people playing big chess on the streets, medieval architecture and the brown bears .. and those chocolate ice creams...
Geneva is great too, more cosmopolitan.. the countryside is marvelous.
For the architectural scene, Zürich seems to be the place to be in Switzerland, all the swiss that made it internationally come from the north, H&dM, Zumthor, Calatrava has his main office there, etc., and you've got the ETH Zürich polythecnic school too
The Zumthor Baths are truly, as aaron says, quite amazing. Don't be dissapointed by the setting it's in - to say we have been misled through the camera's lens is no understatement - it is the whole experience that is so remarkable, and the fact that the baths frame the surroundings so successfully.
Oh, and please, please go sledging when you are in Vals - you can get a bus from any of the stops with a red sleigh attached to them. That sledging ride was one of the happiest moments of my life - at least 20 minutes of constant sledging I think it took, along with my favourite music on my walkman and two of my good friends with me - incredible :)
Don't forget Geneve.
I also like Lugano at the Italian border, it's Switzerland+palm trees.
Basel is really nice also very close to Weil am Rein, with Hadid, Ando, Gehry and much more. Got lost in Basel once, drove around with my bicycle for hours, wow, best place to get lost ever.
Do have to say that the german they speak in Switzerland is pretty impossible. But if you don't speak german it doesn't matter.
Do you speak german, french or italian? It's pretty weird that such a small country has 3 national languages, if you speak one of them it might help you narrow your search.
I think most Cantons in Switzerland are adopting English as second language. If you notice international programs at Swiss school are taught in English and also regulatory for european univesity standards which is a big in Europe to make school profitable. It is very costly for Swiss to translate a legal/rule publication into three languages and most of these regulation brought from Germany. So..ESL is the way. It is cute that 1 percent citizen in this little country speak Rumantsch.
asterix isn't swiss, he's a gaul! my parents dragged me to parc asterix when i was younger. good times.
basel is an amazing city, i spent way too much time here. plus it has a thriving night life. i liked zuerich, but it's a little too tranquil unless you go and participate in some anarchist rioting. it can be somewhat difficult getting a job. even if you can speak german or french. Botta's work in Basel is awful. There are also guidebooks (Ticino, Basel) where you can get massive quantities of info on architects and their projects. The zumthor baths are good but out of the way. spend the day in Chur and ogle at his 5 or 6 projects in der nahe...
SAM architekten
mieli + peter
bearthe + deplazes
AGPS architects
oh yeah... good luck. you'll need it.
oh, another nice thing about Basel-it's proximity to Ronchamp, Schwarzwald, Besancon, Colmar, Breisach, Neuf Breisach, Strasbourg, Freiburg, Bern, and Zuerich.
Lugano is the only Swiss town I've had the pleasure to peruse, but it was wonderful. It is the modern architecture capital of Switzerland or so I read somehwere and there is an architecture school there. Somehow I thought that Lugano is what modern Italy only wanted to be with the fashion and shopping and designer wanna-be shops and decor. It's like Italy but super clean and more up to date.
In Parco Civico, you can find people rolling fatty's right there out in public with people walking by with strollers and such - it's illegal but tolerated, less so for foreingers. Lots of civic art (sculptures), gardens, and a huge lake with the city laying around it all nestled in the mountains.
burkhalter + sumi - great work, especially the wood projects.
diener + diener - more 'simple' and larger scale work, but solid urban design and execution. have no idea about the firm itself.
there are a few zumthor spin-offs in basel. look back through any issues of a+u on swiss architecture over the last five years and you'll run across them.
Apr 27, 05 9:00 pm ·
·
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.
Switzerland
I'm going to europe after graduation in december, and i'm looking to intern for a couple of months. Most likely in Switzerland
What cities are the most progressive/coolest and what are the firms that are making it happen, other than H&deM and Botta. Who are the local architects that are getting it done, Olgiati, Markli, ...?
thanx
you can check out Gigon+Guyer also in Zurich
yeh, G+G do great work, i didn't mean to leave them off the list. thanks.
what are the sites i must go see?
Is Basel the coolest city in the country?
Go up the Jungfrau (sp?) and Zurich is great!
jungfraujoch. it's the highest train station in europe (on top of a glacier and where one of the jame's bond movies was filmed - can't remember which at the moment) very cool place. bern is nice. lucern is awesome. a lot of people head to interlaken. check out the countryside.
don't miss the Thermal Baths at Vals. Zumthor is a master, and the 3 days that I spent there (with the UF Vicenza INstitue of Architecture Program) have greatly affected me. He really demonstrates the potential of materiality and spatial phenomenon. You willsee lay people looking around as if they were architects admiring the space, detailing etc...
Bern is great, people playing big chess on the streets, medieval architecture and the brown bears .. and those chocolate ice creams...
Geneva is great too, more cosmopolitan.. the countryside is marvelous.
For the architectural scene, Zürich seems to be the place to be in Switzerland, all the swiss that made it internationally come from the north, H&dM, Zumthor, Calatrava has his main office there, etc., and you've got the ETH Zürich polythecnic school too
check out the book "swiss made"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/8425215285/qid=1114632290/sr=8-7/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i6_xgl14/102-2497056-9143333?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
is a good litttle book also the phaidon atlas or 10x10 no 1 or 2
fergus
thanx man, this is what i need to hear. you got one of those phaidon atlases handy?
The Zumthor Baths are truly, as aaron says, quite amazing. Don't be dissapointed by the setting it's in - to say we have been misled through the camera's lens is no understatement - it is the whole experience that is so remarkable, and the fact that the baths frame the surroundings so successfully.
Oh, and please, please go sledging when you are in Vals - you can get a bus from any of the stops with a red sleigh attached to them. That sledging ride was one of the happiest moments of my life - at least 20 minutes of constant sledging I think it took, along with my favourite music on my walkman and two of my good friends with me - incredible :)
Check out my photos if you like: http://www.haflidason.com/andri/swiss/
I also made a short film of my trip to Switzerland: http://www.haflidason.com/andri/upload/swiss-small.wmv
Have fun, let us know how it goes!
Don't forget Geneve.
I also like Lugano at the Italian border, it's Switzerland+palm trees.
Basel is really nice also very close to Weil am Rein, with Hadid, Ando, Gehry and much more. Got lost in Basel once, drove around with my bicycle for hours, wow, best place to get lost ever.
Do have to say that the german they speak in Switzerland is pretty impossible. But if you don't speak german it doesn't matter.
Do you speak german, french or italian? It's pretty weird that such a small country has 3 national languages, if you speak one of them it might help you narrow your search.
I think most Cantons in Switzerland are adopting English as second language. If you notice international programs at Swiss school are taught in English and also regulatory for european univesity standards which is a big in Europe to make school profitable. It is very costly for Swiss to translate a legal/rule publication into three languages and most of these regulation brought from Germany. So..ESL is the way. It is cute that 1 percent citizen in this little country speak Rumantsch.
One more thing:
Asterix in Switzerland
quite funny...
i think someone already mentioned it but, one word....lugano!
asterix isn't swiss, he's a gaul! my parents dragged me to parc asterix when i was younger. good times.
basel is an amazing city, i spent way too much time here. plus it has a thriving night life. i liked zuerich, but it's a little too tranquil unless you go and participate in some anarchist rioting. it can be somewhat difficult getting a job. even if you can speak german or french. Botta's work in Basel is awful. There are also guidebooks (Ticino, Basel) where you can get massive quantities of info on architects and their projects. The zumthor baths are good but out of the way. spend the day in Chur and ogle at his 5 or 6 projects in der nahe...
SAM architekten
mieli + peter
bearthe + deplazes
AGPS architects
oh yeah... good luck. you'll need it.
oh, another nice thing about Basel-it's proximity to Ronchamp, Schwarzwald, Besancon, Colmar, Breisach, Neuf Breisach, Strasbourg, Freiburg, Bern, and Zuerich.
Lugano is the only Swiss town I've had the pleasure to peruse, but it was wonderful. It is the modern architecture capital of Switzerland or so I read somehwere and there is an architecture school there. Somehow I thought that Lugano is what modern Italy only wanted to be with the fashion and shopping and designer wanna-be shops and decor. It's like Italy but super clean and more up to date.
In Parco Civico, you can find people rolling fatty's right there out in public with people walking by with strollers and such - it's illegal but tolerated, less so for foreingers. Lots of civic art (sculptures), gardens, and a huge lake with the city laying around it all nestled in the mountains.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/8425215285/qid=1114632290/sr=8-7/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i6_xgl14/102-2497056-9143333?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
is a good litttle book also the phaidon atlas or 10x10 no 1 or 2
Our prof at Strathclyde wrote that...
a couple of other firms to look at:
burkhalter + sumi - great work, especially the wood projects.
diener + diener - more 'simple' and larger scale work, but solid urban design and execution. have no idea about the firm itself.
there are a few zumthor spin-offs in basel. look back through any issues of a+u on swiss architecture over the last five years and you'll run across them.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.