bread spring 2014: Günther Vogt + Ákos Moravanszky

The Civic Association Kruh and the prestigious Faculty of Architecture at ETH Zurich present the fourth lecture evening of the series “Swiss-Czech Inspirations”, supported by the Swiss-Czech cooperation program within the Partnership Fund. 



Günther Vogt: The Landscape of Cities

Ákos Moravánszky: Building Clouds.

Atmospheres and Swiss Architecture / On the symbiosis of contemporary architecture with landscape and the strong effect of atmosphere in architecture


June 5 / 19:30 / Kino Světozor (Vodičkova 41, Prague 1)



Günther Vogt reflects on how to bring landscape back into cities and where the boundary lies between city and landscape. He returns to the roots, focusing more on the relationship to place than on design. He conducts field research, criticizing the lack of it in the context of European landscape architecture. He works with models to demonstrate the spatial perspective of future users. 
Vogt Landscape Architects have gained worldwide renown through projects including the redesign of the space in front of Tate Modern in London. The largest project is the Novartis Campus Park in Basel, a geomorphological and vegetational interpretation of the landscape in the Upper Rhine Valley. The studio collaborates with leading world architects such as the duo Herzog & de Meuron and David Chipperfield. In Prague, Vogt Landscape Architects designed the urban solution and garden architecture for the residential project Cornlofts Šaldova in Karlín by the Viennese architects Baumschlager Eberle (2005-09).

Günther Vogt (*1957, Balzers), professor of landscape architecture at ETH Zurich, was awarded in 2012 – as the first landscape architect – the Meret Oppenheim Prize, awarded to Swiss artists.



Ákos Moravánszky explores the interest in atmosphere and the capture of the moment in contemporary Swiss architecture (the famous pavilion of Peter Zumthor for Expo 2000) and the relationship between the aesthetics of atmospheres and the alleged simplicity of so-called Swiss minimalism. Instead of focusing on signs and their interpretation, the emphasis shifts to the present moment. “Can steam, heat, or light become the new bricks of today’s building?” asks architect Philipp Rahm, representative of the young radical generation of Swiss architects, in his manifesto for meteorological architecture.

Ákos Moravánszky (*1950, Stoličný Bělehrad), professor of architectural theory at ETH Zurich, is one of the few who focuses on Central European architecture (e.g., in the historical context of the Habsburg monarchy). He is a renowned author, writing about world architects (OMA, K. Sejima). 

On Friday, June 6, 2014, both speakers will participate in a working group on the topic of architecture, landscape, and atmosphere with Czech experts (architects, theorists, representatives of non-profit organizations) at the ČKA (Josefská 34/6, 118 00, Prague 1).

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