that’s all folks
location: zurich switzerland, 2024
context: scenography for the farewell festival of schauspielhaus zurich
idea: it's time to say goodbye at the schauspielhaus, as the artistic directors and many allies are breaking new ground. a farewell festival brings the productions closest to the heart back on stage and invites friends and guests to celebrate the happy end together. as a space-forming element, the title of the final publication «theater is dead, long live theater» is built from rough-sawn wood and creates niches and retreats to see friends again, reminisce and discuss future plans together. take care dear era at the schauspielhaus, we will miss you guys.
friendly creatures
location: zurich switzerland, 2023
context: spatial design for schiffbau-fest, hosted by schauspielhaus, moods and lasalle
idea: for 36 hours a vast amount of space should become a common party location to celebrate a house shared by different institutions. to do justice to the short appearance and the large volume, working with air seemed to be best way to meet this challenge. using silver foil, simple fans and some spray cans, alien allies are created to mingle with the guests. the friendly creatures sit down at tables, squeeze between furniture and appear on ping-pong tables and on stages, becoming a connecting element between different spaces. to utilise any remaining unused foil, we offer a workshop for children to build their own designed creatures as helium balloons to take home.
color snake
location: bern switzerland, 2023
context: festival center for auawirleben theater festival
with participation of jacky haller
idea: take many meters of fabric, a fire extinguisher, a few buckets of paint, a pinch of courage and coincidentally a lot of joy and turn it into a festival center that invites people to drink, eat and linger. inspired by this year's theme «birth right» and the associated opportunities, expectations, privileges and obstacles that every new life brings with it, the scenography starts with a white canvas. on opening night, the space, including the tables, sofas and lights, is covered in splashes of paint and the colors randomly overlay and blend into a common atmospheric experience.
[images: nathalie jufer]
ball bath
location: zurich switzerland, 2022
context: spatial intervention for schiffbau day at zurich schauspielhaus
with participation of carolina cerchiai
idea: the schauspielhaus opens its doors and invites you to wander through its production spaces and experience how theater is created. to frame the day, the foyer is stripped of all furniture and instead 120 gymnastics balls roll into the industrial hall and fill it with bouncing and smiling people of all ages. during an instant construction workshop, visitors can help build an oversized marble run and use it to transport more balls into the crowd. the sea of balls that is constantly being rearranged calls into question classic forms of engaging with each other and awakens the urge to play.
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]
arts of hospitality
location: zurich switzerland, 2021–2023
context: interim setting for schauspielhaus zurich
idea: hosting can have many faces and being a good host is an art. a converted shop offers space for salon formats and meditation evenings, for gatherings with friends and neighbors of the schauspielhaus, a home to linger and discuss in a relaxed atmosphere. a setting of changeable objects creates a transformable space for private and shared moments, the kitchen becomes a dining table, the sofa becomes a stage and the library becomes a flea market shelf. over the course of two years, the space explores the needs and desires of the institution and the public in a low-threshold way and offers a place for active participation and a place to cry.
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.
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]
eurotopia
location: freiburg germany, 2017
context: stage design for the project eurotopia at theater freiburg
collaboration with meier/franz
idea: the reenactment of 25 essential speeches about europe and the european union stands in the centre of our manifesto on the future of the continent. actors raise their voices on historically significant lecterns, speaker's corners, beer crates and balconies. the objects of articulation are rebuilt from their original settings. stored visibly above the main stage, they provide a flexible stage design for other theater productions.
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]
bar theater neumarkt
location: zurich switzerland, 2014
context: new bar for the lobby area of theater neumarkt
idea: turquoise metal frames, fireproof industrial cement boards and onyx marble from verona are combined to make up the new bar of theater neumarkt. reducing the existing bar counter by one third, we make space for a seat shaped like mini amphitheatre.
and tomorrow, innocence will build
location: zurich switzerland, 2014
context: discussion panel
collaboration with hannes mayer and theater neumarkt
idea: we curate the setting in which three fast rounds of discussion take place amongst six strongly opinionated voices. these thinkers have come together to debate current architectural practice. presenters: nele dechmann and axel humpert. guests: nemanja zimonjic, kevin dröscher, christian scheidegger and jürg keller, céline guibat, johann reble, fredi fischli and niels olsen.
[images: theater neumarkt]
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.
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
congress of change
location: freiburg germany, 2012
context: veraenderungs kongress, theater freiburg
collaboration with michael meier
idea: we have been invited to design a stage which can host discussions about 'change', and its effect across various disciplines. we decide to build a stage over the formally arranged seating area in an existing theatre, recreating an arena. to allow real time discussion and interaction between participants, we have come up with a system where text messages sent by the audience are instantaneously displayed on a large billboard.
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.
copyrights: ortreport