pani puri
location: new delhi india and zurich switzerland, 2024
context: mobile kitchen for a street food dish, based on a research residence in new delhi, where nele dechmann is invited by pro helvetia
collaboration with nele dechmann
idea: there are culinary experiences that you don't easily forget. imagine biting into a hollow crispy-fried little ball and what happens is an explosion of fresh herbs, sour and sweet tamarind and the spiciness of green chili, all with a unique consistency and intensity. but enough food blogging, let's get into our kitchen and try to make this magical dish and bring it to the streets of zurich. in order to crash parties and happenings as flexibly as possible, a small cart is welded together and hand-painted, the shapes and colors inspired by the many walks through the streets of delhi.
bouncy cheese
location: affoltern and langnau im emmental switzerland, 2023
context: participatory sculpture for emmentaler schaukäserei and regionalmuseum chüechlihus
idea: in our workshop with emmental school classes, one child sprayed a wonderfully coloured cheese and another had the idea of building a sofa entirely out of emmentaler. combining these concepts, the sprayed cheese is enlarged and made really soft and the cheese lounge is created, a three-dimensional, walk-on sofa. a cheerful, cozy sculpture that invites everyone to explore. children can climb and bounce, teenagers can hang out and socialize, adults can sit back and take a break from hiking in the beautiful hills while having an aperitif.
urban interventions
location: bern switzerland, 2022
context: workshop with students of school for design bern biel
idea: the week starts with a walk in search of random compositions of objects and traces that could be interpreted as works of art created unwittingly by passers-by. each student then looks for a spot to add or subtract from and thereby overwrite it with a new vibe or function. both structural and performative interventions can be tried out as a strategy to temporarily enable a place to appear in a different light. at the end of the week, we visit and discuss the resulting interventions and then let them disappear right behind us.
[images: saya dür]
the private matters
location: bern switzerland, 2022
context: festival center for auawirleben theater festival
with participation of carolina cerchiai
idea: the auawirleben theater festival celebrates its 40th anniversary under the festival theme «the private matters». the festival center in the heart of the city is home to a restaurant, a disco, and an art pavilion. constructed from rough sawn wood, the structures are festively draped with colorful curtains. the most private of all curtains are shower curtains, and here they hang in an edition especially designed for the festival. by opening and closing the curtains, new spatial settings are created, moving between public and private. after the festival, visitors and friends are invited to shift a shower curtain into their private living space.
[images: nathalie jufer]
infinity
location: zurich switzerland, 2021
context: sculpture for design biennale zurich
collaboration with hector egger holzbau
idea: in the middle of an almost 200-year-old tree population stands a sculpture that focuses on the flexibility and progressiveness of wood as a material to shape ambitious dreams and to meet challenging demands. the walk-in sculpture has been realized in a lively exchange on construction and expression possibilities of wood with the know-how of one of the most exciting high-tech timber construction companies in switzerland. walking on and around the three-dimensional, infinite loop opens up various perspectives on the sculpture and in the park. the shape is driven by the desire to invite us all to think and act in cycles.
[images: goran basic]
brick loungers
location: zurich switzerland, 2021
context: workshop to build outdoor furniture for a schoolyard
collaboration with naomi eggli
idea: the workshop starts with the task of mapping everything the schoolyard has to offer. as yet unfulfilled wishes and needs of the school kids were dreamed up in utopian sketches. the fantasies are then reduced into forms commensurate with the use of lego blocks. the lego block forms are transformed into bricks, and four platforms of 1x1 m are slowly built up. 30 sacks of mortar, 380 bricks and a lot of muscle power are transformed into abstract lounge sculptures. reminiscent of benches, columns and pyramids, the outdoor furniture inspires an open, undefined use discovered by the young creators and their friends.
table ronde
location: basel switzerland, 2020
context: spatial installation for season opening for theater basel
idea: the new directorship of theater basel invites guests to the season opening hosting participants at a 110 meter long table. the table reaches out of the theater, winds its way over staircases and through entrances, and finds its end again at its beginning in a circular gesture. the table is a meeting place for the neighborhood and a utopian catwalk for pleasurable theater moments with a temporary community. invitingly it offers a common basis with bread and soup and connects the inside of the building with the outside of the square.
shy bridge
location: scuol switzerland, 2020
context: installation for the performance project über/brücken, hosted by fundaziun nairs
curated by angela hausheer and julia wolf
idea: whether cast high above the water in tensioned concrete or built filigree from steel: bridges are bursting with self-confidence. they connect cliffs, shores, islands, city districts and people. but what if the bridge refused to do its job and chickens out at the edge of the abyss? a homage to all those bridges that – in contrast to their taut, proud and stable counterparts – refuse to fulfil their connecting task.
[images 1-6: nelly rodriquez]
ufo playground
location: zurich switzerland, 2019
context: workshop to design and build a playground
idea: twenty teenagers and twenty kindergarten kids form a taskforce to envision and realize a playground for their school. sketches and mock-ups of utopian dreams are analyzed and discussed to find a common theme for the design process. the older participants build a ufo as a shelter, a space shuttle to climb on, a galaxy to balance and a throne to play politics in a far away nation, while the young wildings fabricate alien masks, alien pets and a cockpit for the ufo. the imaginative world is created out of recycled wood from the waste of the «unfluencer» installation.
material
location: zurich switzerland, 2018
context: furniture design for an independent bookshop, flexible to take to events like the «materialschau» at haus konstruktiv
idea: the spatial setting for the bookshop started with the idea to recycle pieces of a bygone exhibition. two years after the opening, there was the request to complement the existing furniture with a newly designed additional element. four needs were to be fulfilled with one simple furniture item: to be a stackable shelf, a display, a transport box and a stool. the created design, starting with 45 identical pieces in the initial set, is as convertible as the bookshop itself – always ready for new adventures.
[images 1, 5, 6, 11-13: material]
jubilee centre
location: zurich switzerland, 2018
context: festival centre for zh-reformation
idea: the discovery of an archival pearl delivers the starting point for the idea to turn the site into a temporary bakery. it is however to celebrate the history of the building, rather than the lord’s supper, that bread rolls are baked in a wood-fired oven in the foyer of the venue. every snack is wrapped in a flyer printed on-site using a replica of a gutenberg press. scientists, historians and writers are drawing up the flyer content, with each of the five sheets designed by a different team of graphic designers. for once, the packaging won’t land straight in the waste bin, but will provide long-term food for thought.
[images: goran basic]
billboard bench
location: zurich switzerland, 2018
context: workshop with students of the f+f school for art and design
collaboration with mirjam bürgin and offener st. jakob
idea: the workshop starts with the idea to upgrade a public space with a small intervention as imagined by the students. based on experiments and upon research on the multifaceted social conditions of the central site, discussions identified two needs: first to make a statement on the challenges and fears of the current era, and secondly, to create a place to sit and contemplate. the outcome? a portable chimera of billboard and bench.
the chain
location: zurich switzerland, 2017
context: residency «pimp the dorf – reclaim kreis 1» invited by theater neumarkt
idea: a new monument for the old town. «the chain» is a piece of urban furniture, a totem for self reflection while sitting in zurich’s city centre. based on in-depth research of the local community, this spatial homage ambiguously suggests social cohesion and loyal ties – as well as constraint and confinement. what is the glue that binds the long-standing citizens of this neighbourhood? a reality check for your own set of values.
[images 2, 4: raphael hadad]
reformation
location: zurich switzerland, 2017
context: celebrating five centuries of zurich's reformation
collaboration with theres indermaur, graphic design: gregor huber, ivan sterzinger, newspaper: fabrikzeitung
idea: 500 years ago, the reformer zwingli started preaching in zurich for a profound change in society. one of his close allies was froschauer, the forerunner on letterpress printing in zurich. for this anniversary, a temporary printing house enables visitors to print a special edition of posters reflecting zurich's metaphysical realm.
[images 1-6, 8, 11: goran basic, 7, 9-10: christian altorfer]
how to waste time
location: zurich switzerland, 2016
context: performance platform for manifesta 11 parallel events
collaboration with kunstverein zurich, museum strauhof and atlas studio
idea: a temporary stage built in the financial heart of the city, inspired by the stock exchange platforms of times past. artists whose practice transcends the classic exhibition format perform, act, read and discuss on the stage-like structure. the project is an exploration of work ethic, non-monetary values and the economic nightmare of wasting time.
[images 1, 3-5: goran basic]
puka puka
location: zurich switzerland, 2015
context: outdoor venue for theater neumarkt
collaboration with meier/franz
idea: puka puka is a coral atoll as well as a temporary island in the formal industrial heart of zurich. through a hidden door, the exotic bar is connected with the dark back space, which offers a variety of theater evenings and discussions. by folding down the walls of the ephemeral house, a bigger audience can enjoy the happenings on stage.
[images 1-2, 7-10: goran basic, 3-6: johannes dietschi]
bollard factory
location: freiburg germany, 2014
context: festival, politik im freien theater
collaboration with meier/franz
idea: we build a temporary concrete casting factory. our aim: to reproduce the original freiburg bollard.
fellow enthusiasts assist us in casting the 520kg piece of street furniture.
sympathisers and opponents are invited to the factory – object of discussion is the humble bollard, and its role in perceptions of public space.
[images 1-7: gunnar meier, 8-9: maurice korbel]
grand prix neumarkt
location: zurich switzerland, 2014
context: praxis neumarkt - glückliche tage, theater neumarkt and das magazin
idea: a weekend of activities, organised by the theater neumarkt: «happiness is a practice». the theater has invited artists and thinkers to engage the public by sharing their personal views. we believe that happiness is… a soap box rally down the bumpy pavement of the old town.
house of switzerland
location: nomadic, 2014 -
context: temporary pavillion, housing a variety of uses
collaboration with spillmann echsle architects
idea: for the federal department of foreign affairs we design a mobile structure for switzerland together with spillmann echsle architects. in various factories around the country the modular elements of our house get produced and go on their journey to the first destination in russia.
[images production: demetris shammas and achilleas xydis]
awards: «best architects» 2016, «german design award» 2017.
motel basel
location: basel switzerland, 2013
context: wildwuchsfestival
collaboration with meier/franz and florian stirnemann
idea: the «motel basel» is a festival centre, a bar and a stage reminiscent of the symbolic buildings in las vegas. the motel, in conjunction with food-selling vans and cars modified by invited artists, is a temporary venue for spending the evening. it also serves as point of information during the festival.
grassland gutleutmatten
location: freiburg germany, 2013
context: gutleutmatten 2013, theater freiburg
collaboration with meier/franz and club real
idea: in the fall of 2013, excavators will transform an unassuming field in the neighbourhood of haslach into a large building site. we have been invited to activate the space before trucks and shovels turn the soil. we also want to dig and construct - we create six installations, to be appropriated by theater groups and pedestrians.
palais de haslach
location: freiburg germany, 2012
context: finkenschlag, theater freiburg
collaboration with meier/franz
activate saanen
location: saanen switzerland, 2012
context: site study for saanen
idea: the mountain village of saanen has recently undergone numerous significant changes, such as the pedestrianisation of the village centre. we open a «kiosk of complaints» for saanen's inhabitants, to facilitate discussions about the future of the village. we collect villagers' utopias and grievances. we organise a joint dinner and seat everybody around the 2x7m table.
30 jahre sind genug [boat building workshop]
location: zurich switzerland, 2012
context: 30 jahre rote fabrik
collaboration with meier/franz and florian stirnemann
idea: the «rote fabrik», zurich's cultural centre by the lake, turns 30. in celebration, the entire building is barricaded. however, to those in the know, the building can be accessed through secret entrances and by unusual paths - for example by boat. we help potential burglars to construct a prefab vessel and sneak in by floating across the lake.
[images 1,4: gunnar meier]
the merging engine
location: mazama usa, 2011
context: mazama art residency
idea: in the outskirts of mazama, we experiment with an «exercise in frustration». we make people build with irregular shapes which neither fit nor stand. we provoke and cause vexation, merging individuals through collective action and emotion.
link: mazamaresidency.org
street golf korea
location: manan-gu, south korea, 2010
context: seoksu art project residency
collaboration with riikka tauriainen
idea: the korean neighbourhood of manan-gu is a type of urban space in jeopardy: soon it is to be demolished and replaced by high rise residential towers. our golf course incorporates found architecture like small bumps, pipes and curves in the street, and takes the golfer on a walk through the small alleys to experience the potential of an organically grown city.
revolutions parameter
location: bern switzerland, 2009
context: theaterfestival «aua wir leben»
collaboration with michael meier und konsortium und konsorten
idea: the animal kingdom knows about the new noachian flood and god permits the animals the decision whether humans may board their ark. the choice falls against humanity, and the decision is communicated at a press conference. we side with the animals, helping them to construct revolutionary spaces.
kaukasische ping pong fabrik
location: zurich switzerland, 2008-2009
context: independently managed space for happenings and interventions
collaboration with riikka tauriainen and michael meier
idea: for two years we have run a space known as «kaukasische ping pong fabrik» [caucasian ping pong factory] . we develop the recurring evening of the «video kitchen» which quite literally is a melting pot for our ideas. we also organise a grand prix, build a sauna and a sauna-cinema and expand our minds with countless discussions.
copyrights: ortreport