Books by Heinz Wirz

Book SynopsisIn 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.

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Book SynopsisTimothée Giorgis founded his office in Geneva in 2007 and was joined by Juan Rodriguez in 2015. Since then, a remarkable number of residential buildings and refurbishments have been completed, including a major facility with a municipal and school building in Satigny near Geneva. It is carefully embedded in the landscape with a calm gesture. The reserved developments reveal a refined, detailed architectural language. Text in Spanish and French.

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Book SynopsisChoi Wook is the founder and protagonist of the One O One office in Seoul, South Korea. Since 2000, he has been creating a number of architectural gems year after year that show clear affinities to Korean architectural traditions as well as to European architecture. Craftsmanship, precision in detail, material authenticity and impressive spatial creations are just some of the remarkable attributes of the 13 projects presented here. Text in English and German.

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Book SynopsisThe Swiss Melanie Stocker and the South Korean Dong Joon Lee have been running their Studio d'architettura in Mendrisio since 2005. Over time they have created some remarkable, carefully developed buildings in Ticino and South Korea, such as the Ca'Ospiti apartment building in Rancate, whose structure appears like a reduced archetype that houses five cleverly-nested flats inside; or the equally stringent and minimalist Godung residential and commercial building near Seoul: in brick and exposed concrete, it also contains intelligently-nested rooms within itself. Text in English and German.

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Book SynopsisAfter 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.

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Book SynopsisThe 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.

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Book SynopsisBased in Vienna and Munich, AllesWirdGut was founded in 1999 by Andreas Marth, Friedrich Passler, Herwig Spiegl and Christian Waldner. The name is the office’s motto: in addition to high-quality housing, which also offers considerable flexibility and adaptability, the internationally operative office focuses on added social value. For instance, this is evident in the case of the widely appreciated social project magdas Hotel, a meeting place in Vienna. The most renowned projects among the office’s oeuvre of over 70 buildings include the Hanhoopsfeld campus in Hamburg and the Bruckner Tower in Linz, which was completed in 2021. Text in English and German.

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Book SynopsisSince 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.

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Book SynopsisThe 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.

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Book SynopsisFounded by François Frey and Valentine Chamay Frey, the Geneva-based practice frey architectes takes a modern, minimalist approach. It focuses on the new construction and conversion of villas in the Geneva region. Completed in 2004, Villa F in Vésenaz is a good example of the practice’s rational style, harmonising the construction system and the architectural expression. Text in English and German.

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Book SynopsisVincent Mangeat became internationally renowned in1988 following the construction of his building for the Cantonal High School in Nyon. Influenced by his work experience in Paris, training under Jean Prouve and a spell as Assistant to Hans Brechbuhler and Pierre Foretay at the EPF Lausanne, Mangeat s work bridges the gap between two architectural eras, namely the Tessin Tendenza of the '70s and '90s architectural styles with their exponents in the German-speaking region of Switzerland. But his work has always remained independent and rooted in western Switzerland. From his first residential building in Evolene (1969) to his current projects, including a house for writers at the foot of the Jura mountains, his wealth of architectural achievements form an important a part of his life and work as his permanent, valuable teaching activity. Text in English, French and German. 400 colour illustrations

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