kruh autumn 2023 - Joseph Schwartz / CH

As part of the new lecture cycle on architecture titled Construction!, organized by the association Kruh, prominent Swiss structural engineer and professor of structural design Joseph Schwartz will be coming to Prague. The lecture titled The Art of Structures will take place on Thursday, October 5 at 7:30 PM at the Center for Architecture and Urban Planning – CAMP Prague.

The first October lecture on architecture from the new cycle will feature Swiss structural engineer and emeritus professor of structural design Joseph Schwartz, who has been with ETH Zurich since 2008 until this year. Joseph Schwartz will recall the beginnings of his collaboration with renowned architect Christian Kerez and will focus in more detail on buildings created over the last few years.

“Joseph Schwartz first appeared at Kruh in 2014, and his lecture received great acclaim. He demonstrated how important the collaboration between the architect and the structural engineer is from the very beginning of a construction project and how this approach leads to exceptional architectural achievements, as can be seen in the construction of the school in Leutschenbach near Zurich.” says the founder and curator of KRUH, Marcela Steinbachová, regarding the first autumn lecture on architecture.

In the lecture titled The Art of Structures, the co-author of significant buildings in Switzerland will discuss the design of structures and the reflection of current trends in Swiss architecture. Joseph Schwartz will point out specific examples – how buildings come to life, where it is difficult to distinguish whether the architect's first thought or the structural proposal came first. The audience will learn about the current developments and advancements in the science of structural design. After a brief overview of well-known buildings, he will focus more closely on the latest projects, such as the Bahrain Pavilion in Dubai and the Chinese bridge in Nanjing, which were designed by architect Christian Kerez in close collaboration with Joseph Schwartz.

Joseph Schwartz (*1957) is a structural engineer and emeritus professor of structural design at the Department of Architecture at the prestigious ETH Zurich, where he has worked since 2008 until this year. His work is based on structural analyses and an understanding of the relationships between architectural form and structural engineering. Since 2002, he has also operated his own engineering firm, Dr. Schwartz Consulting AG, located in the town of Zug near Zurich, specializing in structural solutions for leading Swiss architects such as Christian Kerez, Dario Oechsli, or Valerio Olgiati, and firms like Graber & Steiger, Bearth & Deplazes, Romero & Schaefle, or Graber & Steiger Architekten. In addition to design and education, Joseph Schwartz is also a co-author of several professional books.

Joseph Schwartz's lecture will take place on Thursday, October 5, 2023, at 7:30 PM at CAMP Prague. The basic admission fee for the event is 140 CZK and a discounted price for students or seniors is 120 CZK. Tickets can be purchased through the GoOut network. The lecture will be conducted in English.