The book "Louis Kahn. Continuity and Innovation", edited by Roger Boltshauser and Jasmin Kunst in German and English, offers a fresh, unusually open perspective on the compelling work of one of the 20th century's most influential architects. The focus is deliberately forward-looking: which ideas and concepts from the renowned American architect can today's practitioners productively apply to contemporary, climate-conscious, and resource-efficient building?
The book brings together voices from contemporary architectural practice. The essays reflect on the influential master builder's approach to material, light, and mass. They demonstrate how his design strategies remain highly relevant in current debates surrounding durability, reuse, and socially engaged architecture.
The contributions are illustrated with previously little-known material from the gta Archives at ETH Zurich, as well as new photo series of Kahn’s buildings. Student designs for a visitor center in his birthplace of Kuressaare on the Estonian island of Saaremaa show how young architects are creatively evolving his legacy.
At the book launch, architect and co-editor Roger Boltshauser will discuss Louis Kahn, his work, and the new book with his guests Jeannette Kuo, Thomas Padmanabhan, and Michael Merrill.
An event hosted by Park Books and Never Stop Reading, followed by a book sale and reception. Admission is free.
The focus of this special event, held to mark the 60th anniversary of the Swiss Design Association (SDA), is the book published this spring "Sense of Touch as Design. Willy Guhl’s Design Practice as Applied Design Research". In it, author Katrin Stowasser explores the working methods of Guhl, who was one of the co-founders of the design association at the time.
Willy Guhl (1915–2004), one of the most important Swiss designers of the post-war period, is considered a pioneer of modern, neo-functionalist industrial design. His Eternit beach chair and the flower box made of the same material are icons of Swiss design history. He followed a unique design philosophy that emerged from an experimental, research-based approach tied to the senses and the body—including his own—with a step-by-step design process as its fundamental principle.
Based on Guhl’s almost completely preserved, yet previously untapped and unexamined estate, Katrin Stowasser reconstructs his unique working method in the book. The associated design philosophy is illustrated using selected examples from his complete body of work.
At the event, the author will talk about the creation of the book, show images, and read selected passages. SDA member and Guhl’s son-in-law, Marco Pignatelli, will also be present; he will be happy to share a few personal anecdotes during the discussion that follows the presentation.
An event hosted by the publisher Scheidegger & Spiess, Never Stop Reading, and the Swiss Design Association. Book sales and an aperitif will follow.
Admission is free, but registration via this link is requested. The event will be held in German
Stones create a connection to nature and the experiences associated with it. Markus Kummer, born in Zug in 1974 and now based in Zurich, grew up with stones and is familiar with the tactile nature of the material: as a trained mason and architectural draftsman, he knows this hard substance as a standardized unit for building and construction.
It is therefore hardly surprising that stone is the protagonist of Kummer’s artistic work "Giornata". 113 monotypes display image details of mountain landscapes taken from Alpine books, with their horizons shifted. Half-covered in lithographic printing ink, the familiar grid is altered; the mountain peaks, which we usually rely on as points of reference, are missing, allowing the landscape to be viewed, understood, and interpreted anew. Starting with petrol blue, the series encompasses 113 shades, representing a possible color palette of the sky over the course of a day.
Markus Kummer, who also holds a bachelor's degree in interior design and later studied scenography at the HGK Basel and earned a Master of Fine Arts at the HKB Bern, explores this "Giornata" cycle in his book. It is complemented by contributions from author and dramaturg Renata Burckhardt, art and architectural historian Werner Oechslin, author Christoph Elias Meier, and curator and publicist Carole Kambli.
At the opening, Carole Kambli will also moderate a discussion with Markus Kummer, printer Thomi Wolfensberger from Druckerei Wolfensberger, and graphic designer Manuel Krebs from the renowned design studio NORM. Following this, Renata Burckhardt will give a reading of the text she contributed to the book.
An event hosted by the publisher Scheidegger & Spiess and Never Stop Reading, followed by a book sale and drinks. Admission is free. The event will be held in German.
Augustina Flüeler (1899–1992) war eine grosse Schweizer Textilkünstlerin des 20. Jahrhunderts. Als Klosterfrau revolutionierte sie die liturgischen Gewänder und verwandelte sie in Kunstwerke. Innerhalb des Kapuzinerinnenklosters St. Klara in Stans baute sie mit Unternehmerinnengeist eine Textilmanufaktur auf und exportierte die dort gefertigten Paramente in die ganze Welt. Sie war umfassend gebildet und schrieb Bücher über ihr Schaffen, die auch in verschiedene Sprachen übersetzt wurden.
Die von Flüeler entworfenen Messgewänder, Altartücher und anderen Textilien für den Gebrauch im Gottesdienst faszinieren bis heute ob ihrer Schönheit und der handwerklichen Ausführung. Die selbstbestimmte Frau, die hinter Klostermauern mit grosser Selbstverständlichkeit das kirchliche Textildesign neu erfand, erstaunt uns bis heute.
Dieses erste Buch über Schwester Augustina Flüeler präsentiert ihr Leben und ihre Persönlichkeit, ihre Entwürfe und Techniken als Textilkünstlerin und ihr Umfeld. An der Buchvernissage geben die Herausgeberinnen Gabriela Christen und Carmen Stirnimann zusammen mit Grafikerin Megi Zumstein und Textildesign-Spezialistin Tina Moor Einblicke in dieses aussergewöhnliche Werk.
Eine Veranstaltung des Verlags Scheidegger & Spiess und Never Stop Reading, anschliessend Buchverkauf und Apero. Der Eintritt ist gratis.