
For the first time, Pro Helvetia chose the Swiss contribution by means of a competition. Eligible for participation were architects and interdisciplinary teams operating in the field of architecture. After a two-phase competition on a selective procedure basis, Pro Helvetia decided to entrust the realization of the Swiss participation in the 16th Architecture Biennale of Venice in 2018 to Alessandro Bosshard, Li Tavor, Matthew van der Ploeg and Ani Vihervaara with their project «Svizzera 240: House Tour» . The exhibition focuses on the unfurnished interior of contemporary housing by celebrating a peculiar form of architectural representation — the «house tour».
The project «Svizzera 240: House Tour» by Alessandro Bosshard, Li Tavor, Matthew van der Ploeg and Ani Vihervaara has been awarded the Golden Lion for best national participation.
Entitled En marge de l’architecture: Encounters beyond the discipline, the «Salon Suisse» 2018 is directed by Marcel Bächtiger, Tim Kammasch and Stanislas Zimmermann, with the support of local Salonnière Laura Tinti . A programme of talks and events supplementing the exhibition at the Swiss Pavilion, the «Salon Suisse» takes place at the Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi. Partner of the «Salon Suisse» is Laufen Bathrooms AG

Local Salonnière: Laura Tinti
Location: Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi, Dorsoduro 810, Vaporetto stop: Zattere
The Salon Suisse offers a series of lectures, talks and cultural events supplementing the exhibition at the Swiss Pavilion. Curated by architectural historian Marcel Bächtiger, cultural theorist Tim Kammasch and architect Stanislas Zimmermann with the support of local Salonnière Laura Tinti, this year’s programme is an invitation to a journey. If architecture is an island within the archipelago of the artistic and scientific disciplines, then the Salon is a ship that has left the harbour. From foreign shores, we will look back at architecture and explore its cultural and social relevance today.
Global economic interdependencies affect the existence of every individual; the complexities of transnational power and decision-making undermine democracy and civic engagement; the dizzying pace of digitalisation is redefining human beings and their living environment. Inevitably, these phenomena also affect the self-concept of architecture and architects. The traditional role of architecture as built expression of society seems to become increasingly marginalised. Is “architecture” merely a dazzling disguise of realities that it can no longer in influence nor shape? Do architects find themselves degraded to being vicarious agents of an anonymous real estate market? What social and cultural significance can the built environment have under these circumstances? And what would a culture that deserves being called ‘human’ look like architecturally?
In the long history of architecture, such moments have always proved most fruitful when the discourse opened up to ideas, insights and inventions from other disciplines. Today, it is time to set sail again. On our journey, we will encounter philosophers and anthropologists, writers, musicians and artists, comparatists and social researchers. By discussing their work and its link to architecture, the Salon Suisse will open new perspectives, not only on the potentials of architecture in the 21st century, but also on hidden connections that have always existed among the different disciplines. At the Palazzo Trevisan, we will revive the Enlightenment idea of the “Salon” as a place for cultivated, informative conversations and convivial, sociable exchange. Each soirée is also a cultural event: a concert, a lecture or a performance; a tangible sensory experience that will initiate conversation between the audience and our guests, all of them present over the whole length of a salon.
The «Salon Suisse» programme features an opening event on 24 May followed by three subsequent weekends of events, taking place in the evenings at 6.30 pm from Thursday to Saturday.
Salon One: Opening event on 24 May 2018 at 6.30 pm
Salon Two: 13 September to15 September 2018
Salon Three: 2 October to 6 October 2018
Salon Four: 22 November to 24 November 2018
Please find the «Salon Suisse» Booklet here.
Partner of the «Salon Suisse» is Laufen Bathrooms AG
Collaborator of «Salon Suisse» 2018 is Bern University of Applied Sciences

The exhibition focuses on the unfurnished interior of contemporary housing by celebrating a peculiar form of architectural representation — the «house tour».
Image: «Svizzera 240: House Tour» © Alessandro Bosshard, Li Tavor, Matthew van der Ploeg and Ani Vihervaara. Photo: Milena Buchwalder
The year, as well as the Salon, is drawing to a close, but winds and waves are propelling us further into the unknown. In moonlit November nights, we venture a glimpse into the future: what is the nature of the conditions, opportunities and dangers at the dawn of the 21st century? What can we expect from Big Data and Artificial Intelligence? Will the world dissolve into numbers? What does the “fourth industrial revolution” signify for both individuals and society, how will it change our everyday lives? In order to ensure that the outlook to the future does not remain techno- centric, but also considers sense and sensuality, the fourth Salon will unite macro-sociologists and AI researchers with architects, artists, writers and architectural historians. Various routes are to be discussed: paths to a contemporary culture that deserves to be called “humane”.
Location: Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi, Dorsoduro 810, Vaporetto stop: Zattere
Partner of the «Salon Suisse» is Laufen Bathrooms AG

The Practice of Teaching? Students vs Professors
Saturday 10 November 2018 at 2PM
Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi, Dorsoduro 810 Venezia
‘The Practice of Teaching’ section at the 16th Venice Biennale gathers the works of architects who are also professors at the Academy of Architecture – USI located in Mendrisio. At times, the installations directly show the results of the teaching activity, while at others the reference is evocative, dialectical, or indirect. However, a recurring motif in all these interventions is the enrichment that the activity of teaching brings to architectural culture and its practice. Students discuss it in a public meeting with professors of the Accademia di architettura.
Participants include: Walter Angonese, Michele Arnaboldi, Valentin Bearth, Riccardo Blumer, Martin Boesch, Frédéric Bonnet, Mario Botta, Quintus Miller, João Nunes, Valerio Olgiati, Jonathan Sergison.
Open to all and the discussions will be held in Italian and English.

The event will be held in English and will take place at the Archizoom Project Room, SG EPFL Building at 6pm.
More details: https://archizoom.epfl.ch/
Twenty years ago, the Bertelsmann Foundation’s report to the Club of Rome on the topic of “The Limits of Social Cohesion” shed light on potential sources of friction in nation states around the globe. Looking back, the report reads as a prediction of the civil wars that have erupted worldwide and social upheavals that have taken place since then. The question of “How to live together?” (Roland Barthes) is of more existential importance than ever today.
As we reach the middle stage of our journey, we will meet guests from anthropology, sociology, art and the history of photography and architecture. From various perspectives, they will direct their gaze to the collective space wherein our daily lives take place. They will deal with the social behaviour of humans, their perception of space and the interaction with the built environment as well as with the architectural and artistic strategies to interpret and shape this world.

25 September 2018, 8–10 pm
Centre culturel suisse
2-38 rue des Francs-Bourgeois / F-75003 Paris
Reservation: http://ccsparis.com/billetterie
On 25 September 2018, Alessandro Bosshard and Li Tavor, two of the architects behind "Svizzera 240: House Tour", will present the team's research that led to the Golden Lion Award winning project at this year's Swiss Pavilion at the 16th La Biennale di Venezia.

Thursday, 20 September 2018, 7pm
Never Stop Reading
Spiegelgasse 18, 8001 Zürich, Switzerland
In collaboration with Park Books, the curators of the Swiss Pavilion 2019, Alessandro Bosshard, Li Tavor, Matthew van der Ploeg, Ani Vihervaara, invite you to join the launch of "House Tour: Views of the Unfurnished Interior" this Thursday at the Never Stop Reading book store in Zurich.
During the event, the curators will present the image research that acted as the basis for the Svizzera 240 project in discussion with contributors Dr Emma Jones and Professor Martin Steinmann. Imogen Macpherson and Luca Bazelli will show a collection of documentary images of contemporary Swiss interiors. And last but not least, graphic designer Martin Stoecklin and the curators will discuss and contrast the development of the ‘house tour’ in its two dimensional (book) and three dimensional (pavilion) formats, leading to a discussion on how the Swiss Pavilion Svizzera 240 both responds to, and incites, critical debates within contemporary architecture.
All of which you can experience, in less than an hour, with a drink in your hand.
Stormy winds toss us on the shores of a first group of islands: here we encounter philosophers, a comparatist and a "promenter" in space and time. We hear many a thing: why is architecture a worthy subject for philosophical reflections, for example, and to what extent are relevant to the practice of architecture. A currently highly controversial term is being deliberated: "cultural value" - what could / should that be? How does architecture affect everyday life, how does it interact with people? What testimony do literary discourses give in this regard and what extent do they represent an enrichment of architectural theory? And how is the imaginary literature and film reflected in the practice of architectural design?
Location: Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi, Dorsoduro 810, Vaporetto stop: Zattere
Partner of the "Salon Suisse" is Laufen Bathrooms AG
Location: Pavilion of Switzerland, Giardini della Biennale

Salon Suisse One: Embarking on a journey
If architecture is an island in the archipelago of artistic and scientific disciplines, then the Salon is the ship that leaves the safe haven. The embarkation is a solemn affair: words of welcome are offered, speeches delivered, clement weather and friendly winds are wished upon the voyagers. Before the departure, exotic songs emanate from the ship’s belly. Times may be difficult, one of the expedition leaders calls to the passengers, but our journey is full of hope. In the long history of architecture, moments like these have always proved most productive, because its discourse opened up to the ideas, insights and inventions of other sciences and arts. Today it is time again to broaden the horizon, hoist sails and set out to foreign shores.
Location: Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi, Dorsoduro 810, Vaporetto stop: Zattere
Partner of the «Salon Suisse» is Laufen Bathrooms AG

The design of housing is the most common activity of architects. 240cm is the standard height of a Swiss apartment. How does the design of spaces for living resonate with the conditions that lay beyond the immediate task at hand, such as politics, borderlines, and concepts of the private, the public and the common?
With Alessandro Bosshard, Francesca Hughes, Momoyo Kaijima, Alex Lehnerer, John Macarthur, Claudia Perren, Matthew van der Ploeg, Martino Stierli, Isa Stürm, Li Tavor, Martha Thorne, Jan de Vylder, Ani Vihervaara, and others.
Introduction by Philip Ursprung, Dean of the Department of Architecture and moderated by Adam Jasper
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Das Departement Architektur der ETH Zürich lädt ein zu Tag der offenen Tür in einer Geschlossenen Gesellschaft – Eine Wohnungsbesichtigung und ein Gespräch mit dem Projektteam im Schweizer Pavillon aus Anlass von „Svizzera 240“ am Donnerstag, 24. Mai 2018, 4.30-6pm.
Der Entwurf von Wohnungen ist die Hauptaufgabe von Architekten. 240cm ist die Standardhöhe von Wohnungen in der Schweiz. Wie hängt die Gestaltung von Wohnraum zusammen mit Themen, die darüber hinausgehen wie Politik, Grenzziehung, dem Privaten, Öffentlichen und Gemeinen?
Mit Alessandro Bosshard, Francesca Hughes, Momoyo Kaijima, Alex Lehnerer, John Macarthur, Claudia Perren, Matthew van der Ploeg, Martino Stierli, Isa Stürm, Li Tavor, Martha Thorne, Jan de Vylder, Ani Vihervaara, und anderen.
Einführung von Philip Ursprung, Vorsteher, Department Architektur. Moderiert von Adam Jasper

Please find the invitation to the media conference and the accrediation form here.
Location: Pavilion of Switzerland, Giardini della Biennale

The “Salon Suisse”, initiated by Pro Helvetia, will continue with the final weekend of the 2018 programme from 22-24 November at Palazzo Trevisan Degli Ulivi.
Partner of the «Salon Suisse» is Laufen Bathrooms AG
By using an ideal connection between Venice and Zurich, the formal reality of the red light district in Zurich-Alstetten and the spontaneous streetwalkers’ patch of Via Fratelli Bandiera will be compared. Social experiments, creations of urban spaces dedicated and created in an ad hoc manner, as well as customary rules of the Italian territory were all discussed.
New on Biennials.ch – A "who's who" of all the contributors of the Swiss Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia!
Visit the page to find out more about all the talents behind the projects of the past editions of the Swiss Pavilion and Salon Suisse.

For our German readers: Marcel Bächtiger, one of the four Saloniers of this year’s “Salon Suisse”, has written about the “Salon Suisse” opening which took place in Venice on Thursday 24 May 2018. Read "Aus dem Leben eines Saloniers, 1. Teil” on the website of our media partner Hochparterre, check it out here.
The “Salon Suisse” programme, initiated by Pro Helvetia, will continue from 13 to 15 September 2018 at Palazzo Trevisan Degli Ulivi.
Partner of the «Salon Suisse» is Laufen Bathrooms AG

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The «Salon Suisse»: «En marge de l’architecture: Encounters beyond the discipline»
This year’s «Salon Suisse» will present «En marge de l’architecture: Encounters beyond the discipline» by architectural historian Marcel Bächtiger, cultural theorist Tim Kammasch, and architect Stanislas Zimmermann with the support of local Salonnière Laura Tinti.
The events will tackle the importance of the disciplines bordering architecture, such as art, film, literature, urbanism, philosophy. Using the metaphor of a sailing expedition which stops in different islands (i.e. disciplines), the «Salon Suisse» hopes to open up the discourse surrounding the architecture of the 21st century.

Teatro dell’architettura, Via Turconi 25, Mendrisio
The Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio, Pro Helvetia and the Ticino section of SIA (Swiss society of engineers and architects) are pleased to invite you to take part in a discussion about the Swiss Pavilion at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.
The Swiss contribution to the Architecture Biennale is considered one of the most important initiatives in the field of contemporary culture and building construction. For the first time this year, Pro Helvetia selected a project based on an open call of 81 architectural submissions.
Pro Helvetia and SIA will present and discuss «Svizzera 240: House Tour» – the nominated project, which looks at contemporary housing – in a roadshow across Switzerland. After events in Basel and Lausanne, we will visit Mendrisio next. The event is free and open to all.
Participants: Architects of «Svizzera 240: House Tour» Alessandro Bosshard and Matthew van der Ploeg; Riccardo Blumer, Director of the Mendrisio Academy of Architecture; Stefano Tibiletti, Vice- Presidente at SIA Ticino; Francesco Buzzi, President at FAS Ticino and owner of Buzzi architectural studio in Locarno; and Marianne Burki, Head of Visual Arts at Pro Helvetia.
Please contact: camille@picklespr.com
Press Contact
Switzerland: Lisa Stadler, Communication and Media Relations, Pro Helvetia,
lstadler@prohelvetia.ch
International: Camille Regli, Pickles PR,
camille@picklespr.com, +44 78 35 237 292 (uk) or +41 79 294 0715 (ch)