In the middle of the thousands of islands of the Croatian coast, Bavljenac, an islet of derisory size, stands out for its large number of walls. These dry stone walls, typical of the Mediterranean, give the island a unique and singular aspect.
Maasai Villages, an Architecture Designed by the Traditional Pastoral Way of Life
The Maasai are an ethnic and semi-nomadic group who have developed a vernacular architecture that reflects the socio-economic functioning of their society.
The Consolidation of the Amiens Cathedral
The First World War ravaged the French territory. Many cities were drowned under the bombardments and several monuments were destroyed or threatened. It was the case of the Amiens Cathedral which was protected thanks to an ingenious saving intervention.
Vertical City and Urban Fiction
The Austrian experimental scene of the 1960s marked the architecture of its time. It brought together a great generation of avant-garde Austrian architects and artists such as Walter Pichler, Hans Hollein and Raimund Abraham. This prestigious group notably influenced the (often theoretical) production of many international architects of the 60s and 70s. In successive exhibitions, architectural, urban and technological themes were questioned and models such as vertical city were explored.
Compact City, Primitive Forms and High Tech Language
With the Compact City project, Walter Pichler reinterprets architectural themes that were much discussed in the 1960s. He explored through modeling and drawing an alternative, mixing high-tech architecture and primitive influence.
Walter Pichler, Nucleus and Underground Building
Walter Pichler was an Austrian artist who produced a large number of drawings and sculptures, with the aim of exploring the relationship between object and space. Very influenced by the archaic civilizations he designed many projects of underground buildings articulated around nucleus, making these constructions real machines.
Palais de la Découverte, Technical Monumentality and Ovoid Forms
During the 1937 Paris Universal Exhibition, three adopted French architects proposed a highly technical building, the Palais de la Découverte (Palace of Discovery), far removed from the new theories of modern architecture.
La Maison de la Publicité, an High Tech Architecture Ahead of its Time
La Maison de la Publicité is a project designed by Oscar Nitzchke in 1936. The building, a kind of media machine, presents a façade with a fine metallic structure, covered with changing advertisements, long before the first examples of high-tech architecture.
Musée International d’horlogerie, a Troglodyte Architecture
The Musée International d’horlogerie (International Watchmaking Museum) in La-Chaux-de-Fonds could well be the first European experiment in contemporary troglodyte architecture as it was defined by Pierre Zoelly and Georges-Jacques Haefeli. It’s a buried building with remarkable spatial qualities supported by an efficient structure, constructed under a park in 1974.
Pierre Zoelly, a House for a Sculptor
At the end of the 1960s, the Swiss architect Pierre Zoelly designed a house for the sculptor Peter Hächler. He built a concrete structure, the organic heart of the house, which will be the perfect interlocutor for the sculptures it houses.