In celebration of Switzerland’s rich architectural heritage and the unveiling of the new de Young Museum by the Swiss architecture firm Studio Basel of Herzog & de Meuron, the four Swiss architecture schools, in collaboration with swissnex, California College of the Arts (CCA), and the University of California at Berkeley’s Department of Architecture, will present a month-long interactive exhibition at CCA in San Francisco entitled “Inventioneering Architecture” and an accompanying lecture series on Swiss architectural teaching. Participants include members of the architecture faculties of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich (ETHZ); Academy of Architecture, Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI) in Mendrisio; Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL); and the Institute of Architecture at the University of Geneva.

Connected by swissnex, Switzerland’s four architecture schools have created this interactive exhibition and lecture series in an effort to recognize the accomplishments of their architects and to further illustrate each school’s unique approach to teaching architecture.

“We want to expose the Swiss method of architecture instruction to other cultural contexts,” explains Architecture Professor Marc Angélil, ETH Zurich. “This exhibit provides an exciting opportunity to share our perspectives, gather feedback, and evaluate what we are doing. After San Francisco, we plan to take the exhibit to Houston and other cities in China, the United Arab Emirates and Buenos Aires.”


Exhibit

Inventioneering Architecture will feature a 40-meter-long (131-foot-long) platform of an imaginative cross-section of the Swiss Alps, imported from Switzerland and created specifically for this event. This exhibition will give visitors a physical and intellectual opportunity to experience the differences between Swiss architecture pedagogy and American architecture teaching methods. Visitors can walk on the platform, view monitors with web-based architecture content and add their own thoughts at various terminals. An overhead screen will display Swiss architecture projects in CAAD software.

On display in the nave of the California College of the Arts (CCA) San Francisco, from October 3 to 27, 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, no cover.


Opening reception

October 3, 2005, 6pm at CCA.


Lectures

October 3, 2005, 7pm: Marc Angélil, ETH Zurich
October 10, 2005, 7pm: Andrea Deplazes, ETH Zurich
October 17, 2005, 7pm: Inès Lalumière, EPFL
October 24, 2005, 7pm: Valerio Olgiati, Academy of Architecture (USI)
October 31, 2005, 7pm: Dirk Hebel & Jörg Stollmann, ETH Zurich