- Fully illustrated with approximately 70 images and 30 plans Founded in 2001 by Martin Bez and Thorsten Kock, the 50-strong team at bez+kock architekten is largely commissioned as the result of competitions. Despite the wide range of tasks, the Stuttgart-based office's designs all make an autonomous, locally specific and sustainable contribution to building culture. Their green adventure center in the Luisenpark was a highlight of the Bundesgartenschau 2023 in Mannheim. Text in English and German.
- Fully illustrated with approximately 70 images and 30 plans Tom Lechner, an architect from Altenmarkt, Austria, has been producing contemporary architecture for over 20 years. His practice LP Architektur uses innovative methods to translate regional building traditions into new forms, materials and spaces - for which he is regularly awarded architecture and design prizes: for instance, for the Auferstehungshalle in Straß and the project Vivid Planet (including at the DEAwards 2023). Text in English and German.
Das von François Frey und Valentine Chamay Frey gegründete Büro frey architectes mit Sitz in Genf verfolgt einen modernen, minimalistischen Ansatz. Ihr OEuvre umfasst in erster Linie Um- und Neubauten von Villen, vereinzelt aber auch Wohnungsbau, Schwimmbäder, Büro- und öffentliche Bauten. Beispielhaft für ihren rationalen Stil, bei dem Konstruktionssystem und architektonischer Ausdruck harmonieren, ist die 2004 realisierte Villa F in Vésenaz.
Tom Munz established his St. Gallen office in 2013. Since then, he has produced a number of extremely high-quality buildings that are always developed with a special interest in structural and tectonic expression. For instance Wohnhaus Holzenstein in Romanshorn is a design inspired by Modernism, thriving on the interaction between reserved, beige-stained concrete wall surfaces and wooden window elements to achieve an extremely poetic radiance. Text in English and German.
Eileen Joy Liebman und Fernando Villavecchia haben seit 1987 mit Sitz in Barcelona (Spanien) eine Reihe unterschiedlicher Projekte realisiert. Ihr Schwerpunkt liegt auf Wohnarchitektur und der Renovierung historischer Gebäude in den verschiedensten ländlichen und städtischen Umgebungen. Im Laufe der Jahre haben sie nach und nach ein Œuvre von spezifischer «Zurückhaltung» und mit einer besonderen und angemessenen Aufmerksamkeit für den Raumeindruck entwickelt. Zu den Projekten zählen die sorgfältige Restaurierung und Umgestaltung der Casa Coderch Milá von 1958 in Cadaqués (2017) und die Casa Sant Llorenç (2014) in den Bergen von Lérida. Since 1987, Eileen Joy Liebman and Fernando Villavecchia have produced a series of diverse projects from their studio in Barcelona, Spain, with an emphasis on residential architecture and the renovation of historic buildings in a range of rural and urban contexts. Over the years, they have gradually developed an oeuvre with a special “reserve” and with particular and measured attention to spatial expression. Projects include the careful restoration and adaptation of the 1958 Casa Coderch Milá in Cadaqués (2017) and the Casa Sant Llorenç (2014) in the mountains of Lérida.
Die Zwillingsschwestern Selma Mikou und Salwa Mikou gründeten 2006 in Paris – nach langjähriger Mitarbeit bei Jean Nouvel und Renzo Piano – ihr eigenes Büro. Jedes Projekt bedeutet für sie vorerst, sich von vorgefassten Formen zu befreien, um originelle Lösungen zu schaffen, die die Dimension des emotionalen Raumerlebnisses in das Zentrum rücken. So sind zahlreiche prominente Bauten in Châteauroux (2021) entstanden, wie das als dynamische Figur entwickelte Balsanéo Aquatics Center, das sich wie eine Brücke über den Boulevard spannt, um die einzigartige Landschaft der Indre-Region zu überblicken. The twin sisters Selma Mikou and Salwa Mikou founded their own Paris office in 2006 – after working for many years for Jean Nouvel and Renzo Piano. Each project primarily aims to liberate itself from preconceived forms in order to create original solutions that focus on the dimension of an emotional spatial experience. The architects have produced numerous prominent buildings in this way, including the Balsanéo Aquatics Center in Châteauroux (2021), which was developed as a dynamic figure that spans the boulevard like a bridge to overlook the unique landscape of the Indre region.
In 2015, a volume in the Anthologie series was published on the buildings by this Lucerne architect, who is originally from the Upper Valais region. Since then, many further projects and an impressive number of new buildings have followed. They all demonstrate a respectful, gentle further development of the settlements and locations. The Kronengasse building in Sempach is exemplary: in it, the architect seeks a connection between traditional anonymous construction and a sophisticated finesse in designing the building.
- Florian Nagler's work is a veritable 'recherche patiente', as his buildings have an experimental characterFlorian Nagler's work is a veritable "recherche patiente", as his buildings have an experimental character. For instance the "research buildings" in Bad Aibling are exercises on what building with wood, plastered brick and concrete can each mean. The Wohnen am Dantebad housing development reinterprets the traditional pergola. Text in English and German.
- Swiss architect Laurent de Wurstemberger and his company turn excavated material from construction sites into compacted clay blocks and completed a number of small and sophisticated projects - Fully illustrated with 43 images and 25 plans In 2006, Laurent de Wurstemberger founded the Atelier ar-ter in Carouge with two partners, and in 2011, along with the material scientist Rodrigo Fernandez, the company Terrabloc, which turns excavated material from construction sites into compacted clay blocks. In 2018, he opened his architectural practice in Geneva and has since completed a number of smaller, more sophisticated projects, including the renovation of a farm in Choully (GE). Text in English and French.
Johannes Kister, Reinhard Scheithauer (until 2020) and Susanne Gross have been running their offices in Cologne since 1992 and Leipzig since 2007, as well as recently opening a Berlin branch. The three protagonists have produced remarkable, inspiring buildings, including the major, sculptural facility of the University of Applied Sciences Bremerhaven (2005), which impresses with its solid, haptic materiality. Text in English and German.
