Barão-Hutter is an architecture studio based in Switzerland that designs, plans and realizes unique buildings in challenging locations, mainly in Portugal and Switzerland, collaborating closely with outstanding partners, specialists and craftsmen.

Eisengasse 3
9000 St.Gallen
Switzerland

T +41 71 222 40 80
M +41 79 950 81 86
info@barao-hutter.com

MWST-Nr.: CHE-241.256.851

Barão-Hutter Atelier

Eisengasse 3
9000 St.Gallen
Switzerland

T +41 71 222 40 80
M +41 79 950 81 86
info@barao-hutter.com

Extension of the former Queen Alexandra Sanatorium, now «Thurgauisch-Schaffhausische Höhenklinik», Davos, invited competition, 1st prize, 2023-2025
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View over the intimate forest baths to the tall, curved building with its continuous wooden balconies.

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The two-storey, sheltered indoor bath moulds itself to and into the mountainside and is lit by a large spa window.

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Curved circulation spaces accentuate a slow, relaxed walking experience and link the various water basins in the continuous complex.

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View into the high entrance of the public baths. Behind the elegant counter, a perforated, luminous textile made of cork from 4spaces Zurich.

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Entrance to the flat with semi-circular mirrors, bench and robust carpets made from cut cactus fibres.

Grimsel Campus, Association «guttannen bewegt», place of exchange and new base camp for field research, study competition, 1st prize, 2022-2025
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View over the campus: next to the main turbine hall (architect Jacques Wipf, 1929), the converted cable car station houses the new research and communication centre. Directly behind it are the stony caretaker‘s houses, which accommodate rooms and the canteen.

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The large co-working space with a view of the valley and the mountain massifs is located under the new roof made of structural glass sections, which are layered on top of the existing concrete structure. When required, colourless textiles cover the crystal-clear ceiling elements like quarry frost covers ice.

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The building functions like a large light catcher that protects people from natural risks, directing daylight into the depths of the rock and diffusely reflecting it into the workspaces. Its interior, with its spatially interwoven storeys, is delicate, glassy and precise.

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The large, public seminar room is located in the depths of the vertical, reused concrete cube of the former cable car station. Zenithal light enters via the multi-storey north wall, creating a unique spatial dramaturgy.

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The large central foyer serves as a meeting place as well as a venue for discussions and exhibitions. The extra-high space extends the turbine square into the interior and allows quick orientation across all floors.

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The upper floor contains freely divisible work and meeting rooms. Daylight and materials such as galvanised metal, rough concrete and frameless glass create a technically fresh, sober and functional atmosphere.

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The floors with workplaces and laboratories develop upwards from the depths in staggered split levels. The rooms and uses are directly linked to each other via short staircases and transparent room dividers.

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The two topmost co-working spaces, which can be freely furnished, offer spectacular views of the entrance square, the power station opposite and the vast, stunning high mountain landscape.

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View from the west across the water basin to the reused cable car station, which has been extended with a glass roof. Behind it, the historic power station and the stone houses of the machinists.

Concert, dance and theatre house, City of Aarau, open competition, 1st prize, 2012-2021
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Overall view of the remodelled interior with two monolithic fixtures made of black exposed concrete.

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Longitudinal section through the hall and the lateral, quiet blocks of black concrete with their folded façades.

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Exterior view of the movable foyer: built as a textile, space-defining and sound-modulating suspended structure.

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Both the textile foyer and the large tribune stands with hundreds of seats are modular and can be moved freely within the large space.

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The flexibility of use is maximised: With rollable grandstand towers, adjustable absorbers, mobile chain hoists in the roof space, etc., the playing area and room acoustics can be fully adjusted.

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The internal stairs for the artists are made of vibrant, reflecting metal.

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Materials, joints, light and sound were designed down to the last detail by Barão Hutter and realised by outstanding craftsmen under the supervision of Ghisleni Partner AG.

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The public toilets and cloakrooms speak the language of a raw backstage and are characterised by a strong, dense atmosphere and direct materialisation.

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Dressing rooms, make-up tables, warm-up and soloist rooms were developed in close collaboration with actors and musicians and realised without any compromises.

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View from the grandstand to the wide and movable orchestra stage of the concert hall – behind it, the sound gets reflected by the «folded» back wall made of black concrete.

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The «folded» concrete surfaces are designed for excellent concert acoustics and are geometrically modulated across the entire width.

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600 mobile seats on a wooden theatre floor and on mobile stands allow for almost any number of concert, dance and performance scenarios.

Film theatre on Arkadenplatz, Municipality of Davos, invited competition, 1st prize, 2018-2021
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Historic arcades flank the new «intermediate building» with foyer, cinema and theatre. The arcade square was also completed in mid-2021 according to designs and plans by Barao-Hutter. The free, partly bush-hammered, partly polished surface of the coloured steel fibre concrete enables maximum robustness and flexibility of use.

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Site plan with the historic arcades (left, right) and the newly inserted east arcade (top) and redesigned town square. At first glance, the large urban figure is a unity of design thanks to its rhythm, pillars, friezes, lighting and paving. The subtle differences between old and new are revealed in the details.

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View over Davos and the arcaded square towards the Landwasser valley. The square forms the new centre of the promenade through Davos Platz.

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View from the new arcade into the foyer of the film theatre – with high windows overlooking the valley, stone bar and public cloakrooms in the rear bar.

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The office was inserted into the high structure of the building in the style of a classic ticket counter.

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The auditorium of the film theatre can be visually divided by a weightless, black printed tulle developed by 4spaces Zurich.

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The film theatre itself is designed as a «black box». Inside, motorised ceiling rails, flexible audio-video and theatre technology and a retractable, textile stage house allow for a wide range of events.

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View of the grandstand with black printed, room-sized tulle, which can be used to visually divide the auditorium.

Public sauna in the Frauenbad, St.Gallen, invited competition, 1st prize, 2017-2020
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The cloakrooms are unpretentious, but with high-quality details and fittings. The focus on the essential and close to the skin applies to function and architecture.

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The raised «veranda» with a view of the two indoor baths becomes a new enclosed «bay window» and the centre of the facility over the winter.

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Site plan showing the existing women‘s baths above the «Kreuzweier», with the installations for the winter sauna in its north wing: bay window, cloakrooms, relaxation room and sauna.

Learning Centre, University of St.Gallen, invited competition, 2018
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Night-time front façade with forecourt on the street side, to the right the existing library building on the slope side with illuminated, pyramid-shaped skylights.

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Site plan with university library (bottom right), lecture theatres (centre) and the semi-circular entrance to the proposed Learning Centre (top left). The building volumes are slightly offset from each other, creating an intriguing urban setting.

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View from the valley with stylobate made of light-coloured exposed concrete on a wintry hilltop. Above this is the three-storey pillar-and-slab structure with two over-height galleries: one facing the campus and the other overlooking the gardens to the east.

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Internal, covered access through the university‘s existing library building; around the lecture theatres and through an internal garden into the middle of the foyer of the new Learning Centre.

Public library, Canton and City of St.Gallen, invited competition, 1st prize, 2012-2015
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The library as an open, raw «skeleton»; historic reinforced concrete structure, post-and-beam and shelving systems as well as large chandeliers made of twin-flame, naked fluorescent tubes.

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View of the high, eastern entrance with a poster stand designed for this purpose, signposting to the halls and café and direct access to the public cloakroom.

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View of the wide north hall opposite the central railway station; ultramarine blue reception counters, concrete floors, specially designed book trolley and books on free-standing shelves.

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Floor plan of the monumental post building by Pfleghard & Häfeli from 1910 and the 2,500 square metre library built into it on the first floor with north and south halls and the skylit space in the center of the library.

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The embroidered, concave-hanging curtain in the library café, printed in intense colours with iconographic motifs, was developed and realised in collaboration with the Schläpfer textile company.

Extension of an existing residential building, Werdenberg, privat commission, 2010-2012
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Garden view with south-facing dormer window and room-sized pivoting casement, with terrace made of exposed concrete and dark plaster using local sand from the Rhine river.

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Cross-section of the existing apartment building with the new attic storey and the pivoting windows facing north and south.

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Intimate, concealed private rooms contrast with the overheight, bright living space and its views of the landscape.

Adega Baía da Arruda, Pico, Azores, private, 2015-2017
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View of the building on arrival by land: a «one-room house» set in and on existing walls above the Atlantic coast.

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Corner view of the glazed «cockpit» between raw lava stone walls and the hexagonal, cedar wooden roof.

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Panoramic view from the entrance over the dining table to the ocean: for observers of flora, fauna and the horizon.

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Sectional drawing through the steeply sloping topography structured by dry stone walls just above sea level.

Modular furnishing system for rural areas, Südkultur, open competition, 1st prize, 2010-2012
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Bottom view of the curved roof with hand-blown customised lamp from the glassblowing workshop of Marinha Grande, Portugal.

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«Südmodul» as a simple, thin, over four metres high billboard in the village centre of Pfäfers (Switzerland).

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Front view of the snow-covered «Kulturzeiger» in Pfäfers ( Switzerland).

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Cross-section through the 25 mm thick, curved sheet steel with foundation, wooden bench and solid glass luminaire.

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Bus stop under the bent sheet steel, with hand-blown glass light and a pinewood bench to protect against the wind.

Winter circus on the lake of Zurich, Rapperswil, study for KNIE, 2017
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Hand-drawn façade study to develop the shape, volumetry, materiality and colour of the prominent event hall visible from afar.

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Arena floor plan with audience stands on all sides, side gate entrances and central, internal musicians‘ staircase.

 

About

Barão-Hutter realises poetic projects in the fields of architecture, urban planning and landscape design. The studio collaborates intensively with outstanding partners, specialists and craftsmen throughout all phases of the projects. In 2015, Ivo Barão and Peter Hutter were admitted to the Federation of Swiss Architects FSA. In 2022/23, they were guest lecturers at the Technical University of Munich. 

Ivo Barão (1986, MSc Arch FAUP OASRN FSA), born in the far south of Portugal, studied architecture at the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Porto and at the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio.

Peter Hutter (1984, MSc Arch ETH FSA) grew up in north-east Switzerland and graduated from ETH Zurich. He worked in the office of Peter Zumthor and founded his own studio together with Ivo Barão in 2010. Since 2020 he has been invited as a juror in several public competitions.

Team

Laura Wollenhaupt, Serena Santini, Chiara Tessarollo, Logan Allen, Seraina Jenal, Caroline Pachoud, Yanosh Simenic, Katrin Schmid, Sarah Däbritz, Marvin Schillig

News

The exhibition «What Was Could Be» with a project by Barão-Hutter opens on the 4th of April 2025 at 7:00 pm, at the Swiss Architecture Museum SAM in Basel

Exhibition opening on the 12th of March 2025 at 7:00 pm, at the Architekturforum Zürich, «Architecture of Memory» with a text contribution by Ivo Barão

From the 1st of February to 16th of March 2025, the exhibition «Ceci n‘est pas un portrait» can be seen at the Centro Cultural «Mosteiro de Ancede» in Baião (Portugal)

Film premiere on the 14th of December 2024 at 6:00 pm, Profiler Film Works, Zurich: Director Sebastian Vargas shows his short film about the Alte Reithalle

From the 4th of November to the 2nd of December 2024, the exhibition «Begin Again. Fail Better» was on show at Archizoom at the EPFL – including drawings by Barão-Hutter

The book launch of «Ceci n‘est pas un portrait» took place at the end of October 2024 at the Cinema Passos Manuel in Porto. With in the book: works by Barão-Hutter

Events

EXHIBITION
The exhibition «What Was Could Be» by the S AM – in collaboration with the Chair of Construction Heritage and Preservation, ETH Zurich – looks at the past, present and future of monument preservation. Barão-Hutter’s multi-disciplinary theatre, dance and symphonic music venue is part of the exhibition curated by Yuma Shinohara.
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EXHIBITION
Exhibition «Architecture of Memory» at the Architekturforum Zürich, with contributions by various architects, including a text by Ivo Barão, opening on the 12th of March 2025 at 7:00 pm
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FILM
Premiere on the 14th of December 2024 at 6:00 pm, Profiler Film Works, Pfingstweidstrasse 31, Zurich. Film director Sebastian Vargas shows his work about our conversion of the Alte Reithalle Aarau
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LIGHT ON BLOCKS OF ICE
Lecture by Peter Hutter with lighting expert Daniel Tschudy at the Schweizer Baumuster-Centrale in Zurich on working and designing with daylight, on the 28th of November 2024 at 12:00 am
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BOOK LAUNCH
Presentation of «Ceci n‘est pas un portrait», an architectural publication by Ana Luisa Soares, Filipe Magalhães, João Paupério and Maria Rebelo. Among other projects, it portrays the Adega Baía da Arruda by Barão-Hutter. The book launch will take place on the 25th of October 2024 at 9:30 pm at Cinema Passos Manuel in Porto (PT)

RUINS OF THE 21ST CENTURY
Lecture by Ivo Barão at the Institute of Architecture IAR of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, on the 7th of March 2024 at 6:00 pm

CHALCHERA
Final Critiques at the Technical University of Munich TUM, Guest Lecturership Barão-Hutter, Vorhoelzer Forum, on the 19th of July 2023 at 10:00 am
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VERNISSAGE
Exhibition opening in Trogen AR (CH) with design works by students of the Technical University of Munich TUM, visiting lecturer Barão-Hutter, in the Waschhaus at Landsgemeindeplatz, on the 3th of March 2023 at 5:00 pm

KANTOREI
Final Critiques at the Technical University of Munich TUM, visiting lecturer Barão-Hutter, Vorhoelzer Forum, on the 8th of February 2023 at 10:00 am
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BESPOKE
Lecture by Peter Hutter with designer Michele Rondelli (4spaces) on the creative implementation of textiles in the Alte Reithalle, Schweizer Baumuster-Centrale Zurich, on the 13th of October 2022 at 6:00 pm
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AWARD
Award ceremony of «Die Besten» 2021 at the Museum für Gestaltung in Zurich, the conversion of the Alte Reithalle by Barão-Hutter wins the Public Award and the third Jury Prize in the architecture category, awarded by Hochparterre, on the 7th of December 2021 at 7:00 pm
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WERTERHALT
Lecture by Peter Hutter, followed by a panel discussion with art historian Ludmila Seifert and restorer Doris Warger, moderated by ethicist Jean-Daniel Strub, Architekturforum St.Gallen, on the 4th of October 2021 at 7:30 pm
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Invitations

HSLU, Studio Balissat Kaçani, Lucerne, 2025
ETH, Prof. A. Deplazes, Zurich, 2024
University of Liechtenstein, Studio Meister/Rist, 2024
SBCZ, Baumuster-Centrale, Zurich, 2024
FAUP, More than Housing, Porto, 2024
HSLU, Atmosphere and Use, Lucerne, 2024
WAPW, Atelier Karol Żurawski, Warsaw, 2023
ETH, guest professor Sauter von Moos, Zurich, 2023
USI-ARC, Porto Academy, Mendrisio, 2023
OST, Academy of Architecture, St.Gallen, 2023
HSLU, Atmosphere and Use, Lucerne, 2023
AFO KK, Forum Konstanz Kreuzlingen, 2023
ZHAW, Blue Hall, Winterthur, 2023
ETH, Prof. C. Kerez, Fondamenta, Zurich, 2022
HSLU, Technology and Architecture, Lucerne, 2022
TUM, start of visiting lectureship, Munich, 2022
Material Talk, Baumuster-Centrale, Zurich, 2022
Daylight Symposium, Basel, 2022
TUM, Design and Creation, Munich, 2022
57th Solothurn Film Festival, Focus, 2022
ZHAW, Department of Architecture, Winterthur, 2022
HEAD, Haute école d‘art et design, Geneva, 2021
HSG, University of St.Gallen, Sociology, 2021
HSLU, In-Depth Study, Lucerne, 2021
TUM, Urban Architecture, Munich, 2021
AFO, Architecture Forum, St.Gallen, 2021
archi.summit, Carpintarias S. Lázaro, Lisbon, 2019
University of Liechtenstein, Studio Staub, 2019
EPFL, Prof. Harry Gugger, laboratory Basel, 2018
HSLU, Technology and Architecture, Lucerne, 2018
AFO, Architecture Forum Zurich, 2017
AFO, Architecture Forum Thun, 2017
USI-ARC, Academy of Architecture, Mendrisio, 2016
FHNW, Department of Architecture, Basel, 2016
ETH, Prof. Gion Caminada, Zurich, 2015
City of Zurich, Urban Planning Department, 2015
TUM, Department of Architecture, Munich, 2015
Bauhaus University, Weimar, 2014
Accademia d‘Architettura, Mendrisio, 2014
ETH, Prof. Marc Angélil, Zurich, 2013
ETH, Prof Tom Emerson, Zurich, 2013
RWTH, Faculty of Architecture, Aachen, 2013
Universitat Internacional Catalunya, Barcelona, 2013
FSA, Federation of Swiss Architects, Lucerne, 2012
Hochparterre bookshop, Zurich, 2012

Publications

CECI N’EST PAS UN PORTRAIT
The book published by Ana Luisa Soares, Filipe Magalhães, João Paupério and Maria Rebelo at Circo de Ideias examines the present and future of Portuguese architecture. The works collected in the publication and shown in exhibitions – including those by Barão-Hutter – were portrayed photographically by Francisco Ascensão. The photographic works are accompanied by texts by various authors, including Philip Ursprung, Mark Lee, Claudio Schneider, Michaela Türtscher, Suzuko Yamada, Yushi Sasada, Filipe Magalhães, Ana Luisa Soares, João Paupério, Maria Rebelo, Giulio Galasso and Natalia Voroshilova. Published in 2024 by Circo de Ideias, 210 × 297mm, English, design by João Araújo and Rita Huet, EUR 40.00 (EU)
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BEGIN AGAIN. FAIL BETTER
The book, published on the occasion of the exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Olten, brings together 199 early design drawings by architects. Like 50 other contemporary Swiss architecture offices, Barão-Hutter has contributed with two hand drawings. The selection is complemented by original drawings by Swiss and European architects from the 16th to 20th centuries. The illustrations are accompanied by essays that provide a critical and historical framework. Short commentaries by international architects, collectors, historians and teachers conclude the volume. Published in 2024 by Kunstmuseum Olten, Helen Thomas, Dorothee Messmer, Katja Herlach and Manuel Montenegro, paperback, German, 216 pages, 300 x 225mm, CHF 49.00 (CH)
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CASABELLA 929
The professional journal from Milan shows and discusses in detail the conversion of the Alte Reithalle into a house for performing arts and symphonic music, issue no. 929, text by Federico Tranfa, English and Italian, Mondadori Media spa, CHF 27.00 (CH), EUR 15.00 (IT)
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BROKEN SPACES
Anouk Gyssler and Elias Kurth have followed the transformation of the Reithalle into a multi-disciplinary venue for theatre, dance and music as author and dancer. They portray a space that has long been there, but is being reinvented. The publication also marks the conclusion of ‘Broken Spaces Are More Likely’ – a dance project that exposed itself to the conditions, risks and resistance of the construction process from 2018 to 2021 and staged the space in transition. Edited by Anouk Gyssler and Elias Kurth, design by Tobias Jäggli, images by Luca Schaffer, German, 240 pages, 210 × 280mm, full colour, linen cover, CHF 86.00 (CH)
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LIBRARY BOOK
A photographic and literary stroll through the library and its surroundings, by Katalin Deér and Julia Weber. Edited by Barão-Hutter, graphics and concept by Samuel Bänziger. Printed on gloss 115g/sqm, German, 68 pages, 250 × 335mm, full colour, published by Jungle Books, CHF 39.00 (CH), EUR 36.00 (EU)
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MODUS OPERANDI
The studio‘s manifesto book from 2012, 72 pages, 110 × 170 mm, with an inserted individual selection of reference images, CHF 59.00 (CH), EUR 49.00 (EU)
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Reviews

HOCHPARTERRE, competitions, n.4, Zurich, 2023
dB, deutsche bauzeitung, n.1, Stuttgart, 2023
TEC21, n.39, Zurich, 2022
FIRST, timber engineering magazine, 4/22, Zurich, 2022
Bauwelt, n.8, Berlin, 2022
HOCHPARTERRE, n.3, Zurich, 2022
Hier und Jetzt, New Year‘s Gazette, Aarau, 2022
HOCHPARTERRE, themed issue, Zurich, 2022
CASABELLA, n.929, Milan, 2022
Umbauen + Renovieren, n.1, Schlieren, 2022
werk, bauen + wohnen, n.4, Zurich, 2022
HOCHPARTERRE, n.9, Zurich, 2021
Umbauen + Renovieren, n.5, Schlieren, 2021
HOCHPARTERRE, n.12, Zurich, 2021
werk, build + live, n.5, Zurich, 2020
MODULOR, NZZ Specialist Media, n.3, Urdorf, 2017
AFO Thun, U40, Staempfli Verlag, Bern, 2017
O MUNDO NOS NOSSOS OLHOS, Lisbon, 2016
archithese, Swiss Performance, n.1, Zurich, 2016
werk, bauen + wohnen, n.6, Zurich, 2015
MAP, Architecture Programme, n.6, Munich, 2015
Saiten, n.242, culture magazine, St.Gallen, 2015
BAUMEISTER, issue B5, Munich, 2013
Saiten, n.227, culture magazine, St.Gallen, 2013
werk, bauen + wohnen, n.1/2, Zurich, 2013
archithese, Swiss Performance, n.1, Zurich, 2013
TEC21, n.20, Zurich, 2012
werk, bauen + wohnen, n.6, Zurich, 2012
HOCHPARTERRE, n.6/7, Zurich, 2012
TRACÉS, sia, n.3, Ecublens, 2011
HOCHPARTERRE, n.9, Zurich, 2010
DÉDALO, n.7, Porto, 2010
darco magazine, n.13, Matosinhos, 2010