Pascal Flammer

The Department of Architecture welcomes Pascal Flammer for his lecture, "Spatial Identity." Based on the Swiss tradition of precise construction, Swiss architect Pascal Flammer showcases a path through architectural wishes, proposals, and built work of the last 20 years. Projects developed on structural principles become compositional and fragmented, creating communities while focusing on sustainability and the reuse of materials. Always with a profound interest in crafting spaces with a strong identity.

Pascal Flammer is the Principal of Pascal Flammer Architects, a renowned experimental Swiss architect.

A continuation of the Swiss architectural tradition within the European post-war era, his work is influenced by his education at ETH Zürich, EPFL Lausanne, and TU Delft. His deep engagement with Swiss masters like Herzog & de Meuron, Peter Zumthor, Christian Kerez, and Valerio Olgiati—with whom he worked for nearly 14 years—has significantly shaped his approach.

Flammer's broad interest in various cultural forms has led him to travel extensively worldwide from a young age. The work of Kazuo Shinohara and Mendes da Rocha notably influences his own.

His early works aimed to unify 'idea'—often based on landscape or psychological analysis—with a fundamental approach to 'construction,' creating an inseparable unity. His later work, however, became more open, embracing and celebrating the diversity of human conditions, becoming more complex and less dogmatic. Flammer refers to his projects as 'proposals,' indicating a commitment to offering the best to society while being aware that different approaches are possible. His work continuously intrigues people, prompting them to reflect on their existence.

More recently, Flammer has focused on climate change and decreasing biodiversity, advocating for low-carbon-emission buildings, material reuse, sponge cities, and enhancing urban biodiversity. This period of projects includes experimental housing in Winterthur, consisting of 14-room cluster apartments made from reused materials, and major projects such as the new University Campus in St. Gallen and hospital projects in Switzerland. He also continues to work on small-scale experimental houses, such as the Haus for an Artist in Amsterdam and the 'House in LA.'

Flammer has taught at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, Harvard University's GSD, the Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam, ETH Zürich, Princeton University School of Architecture, and the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. He has received awards including the Swiss Art Award, the Weißenhof Architecture Award, the Best Family House Award, and the European Prize of Architecture Philippe Rotthier.

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