From Basel to Budweis

What do we know about Switzerland? And what do the Swiss suspect about us? These questions could be asked in mid-February at the Gallery of Contemporary Art and Architecture in České Budějovice, featuring the founders of the architectural studio Buchner Bründler from Basel. In a city that is half the size of České Budějovice and not even double in population, an exceptionally high quality of architecture is achieved thanks to intense cross-border cooperation and especially the pharmaceutical industry. Under the shadow of global stars Herzog & de Meuron, there are equally interesting studios in Basel such as Christ & Gantenbein, Miller & Maranta, Morger & Dettli, and Buchner & Bründler, who came to present their current work to the audience in České Budějovice in February. The success of two-named architectural offices in Basel could be the subject of a separate article and several exhibitions. Simply put, Andreas Bründler (*1967 Sins) and Daniel Buchner (*1967 Berneck) have complemented each other wonderfully for more than twenty years since they founded their joint studio (*1997 Basel), and together with forty other collaborators, they create unmistakable buildings that always sensitively respond to the given place. Like other Swiss architects, they have achieved most of their commissions by winning architectural competitions, where healthy comparison with the competition results in the best ideas for the common good. Buchner Bründler are not advocates of a clear and unmistakable architectural handwriting. With each commission, they seek honest solutions with regard to material and construction possibilities. They briefly passed on their acquired experience to students at the Polytechnic in Lausanne but are now primarily focused on their own creations and occasional exhibitions associated with lectures.
Andreas Bründler briefly introduced himself to the Czech audience in the spring of last year, where during a lecture at CAMP in Prague, he had to share attention with the Vienna studio Querkraft. This time, not only both co-founders of the office visited České Budějovice, but a number of employees from their Basel office participated in the installation of the exhibition "Constellations – Correlations." During Michal Škoda's curatorship, we have become accustomed to the gallery in Náměstí Přemysla Otakara II. offering a rich spectrum of moods and atmospheres. While Sergison Bates cozied up the living space in the spirit of the 19th century, Marcela Steinbachová transformed the gallery into a construction laboratory, and the Fröhlich brothers hung a curious panopticum here. The Basel duo Buchner Bründler has now succeeded in erasing the boundaries of individual rooms. The white gallery walls simply vanish against the backdrop of large-format photographs, which are not arranged chronologically or logically and are occasionally even turned upside down. The photographs engage in a dialogue across the rooms. The images detach buildings from their original context and create new relationships within the gallery. The photographs completely dominate all five rooms, uniting them into a cohesive hall.
Swiss architects pose an essential question here: "How to exhibit architecture?" Common exhibitions attempt to convey the experience of buildings located hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away through photos, models, and plans. No matter how good the installation, it can never replace direct experience. Many previous exhibitions in Budějovice have tried to bring the most faithful architectural experience, which was best accomplished three years ago by Jan Šépka with the exhibition "Perception," which did not present the course of Šépka's previous work but focused on a single exhibit embodying the architect’s long-term positions situated in public space.
Buchner Bründler took a frugal Swiss approach. They work with minimal means in their exhibition. What appears to be a show unfinished is a pointed intent. The authors want the photographs to be perceived not just as flat images on the walls, but to communicate between the wall and the floor, creating spatial tension with a slight offset.
The simple leaning of photographs against the wall here reminds one of Joseph Beuys' famous exhibition "Spáleniště II" from the late 1970s when this German conceptual artist leaned wooden sticks against the wall at the Kunstmuseum in Basel. This simple installation directly influenced Herzog & de Meuron's early work in the 1980s in their design for the Ricola warehouse in Laufen. Such principles of referencing works of past masters are further evidence of Swiss continuity. At the turn of the millennium, a simplifying term "Swissbox" emerged for Swiss architecture, capturing the austerity of local buildings, which can be understood not only in the realm of simple forms but in the overall thinking of Swiss architects about buildings, including exhibition designs.
Those who would like to convince themselves of the qualities of Buchner Bründler’s work firsthand can stay in one of the hotels they have reconstructed in Basel, Nomad (2015) or St. Alban (2010). While the former adheres to the aesthetics of the 1950s panel house, the latter arose from the renovation of the original 19th-century silk spinning mill. Their realizations bring quality architecture and design within reach of people with otherwise limited incomes. For them, quality does not mean that the resulting object must be expensive, but rather a realization of values and traditions deeply rooted in Swiss society.
Czech-born and long-time professor at the Zurich Polytechnic Miroslav Šik dispels illusions that we would ever reach the living standards in Switzerland, but nonetheless, we should not resign ourselves to higher goals, and instead of formally imitating Swiss houses, we should rather learn to think Swiss. We can start by visiting the exhibition "Constellations – Correlations."
This year in the House of Art in České Budějovice, we can expect seven more exhibitions. The diversity of individual exhibitions invites regular visits, which does not only apply to architectural exhibitions, as another major event is already being prepared for the end of March when London sculptor Antony Gormley, who has a very positive relation to architecture, will come. His studio was designed in 2003 by British minimalist David Chipperfield, and ten years later, Chipperfield's students Carmody and Groarke expanded the workspaces. The world of art and architecture is beautifully intertwined, and every visit to the House of Art in České Budějovice, which curator Michal Škoda carefully curates with the finest pearls, will help you unravel it.