13.03. - 08.05.2016

Spatial Positions 11. This was Tomorrow: Reinventing Architecture 1953-1978

​Opening: 12.03.2016, 7 pm

The S AM presents ‘This Was Tomorrow’ an exhibition by the Drawing Matter collection about architectural imagination, and the power, processes and poetics of creation and invention.
Curated by Markus Lähteenmäki, Manuel Montenegro & Nicholas Olsberg in cooperation with Hubertus Adam, the exhibition presents a series of twelve episodes focused on the period from 1953 to 1978 in the reconsideration of architecture. They all explore the very different ways to activate the potentials of the built environment in reforming the relations of human beings to each other and to their environments -- from Le Corbusier’s final explorations of a new harmony of form to Aldo Rossi’s first evocations of the force of history.

ACCOMPANYING PROGRAMME

12.03.2016, 7 PM: Opening
17.03.2016, 6 PM: Public Guided Tour
07.04.2016, 6 PM: Public Guided Tour
21.04.2016, 6 PM: Public Guided Tour

THE EXHIBITION IS SUPPORTED BY:

GGG Gesellschaft für das Gute und Gemeinnützige
Panoramah

CREDITS

1. Le Corbusier, Model for Le Main Ouverte, Chandigarh, 1950-1965. © FLC-ADAGP.
2. Le Corbusier, Study Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut de Ronchamp, 1950-1955. © FLC-ADAGP.
3. John Hejduk, Silent Witnesses: The Extro-Intro House, 1975. © Estate of the architect.
4. James Gowan, Study for an Expandable House, 1957. © Estate of the architect.
5. Álvaro Siza, Bouça Housing, Porto, c. 1972. © Estate of the architect.
6. Adolfo Natalilni (Superstudio), Study for the Continuous Monument, 1969. © The architect.
7. Walter Pichler, Study for the Underground City, c. 1963. © The artist.
8. Constant, New Babylon, 1963. © Estate of the artist.
9. Michael Webb, Sin Centre, 1961. © The architect.
​10. Hans Hollein, City, Communication Interchange, 1962. © Estate of the architect.

 

Upcoming exhibitions

27.09. - 09.11.2025

SAY Swiss Architecture Yearbook

26.9.2025:
5.30 PM Book Launch, 7 PM Opening


The second edition of the Swiss Architecture Yearbook is here (available from September 26)!
An independent selection committee chose 30 projects and four special mentions from a pool of 158 nominations. The accompanying exhibition at the S AM Swiss Architecture Museum in Basel showcases Baukultur from all regions of Switzerland. The show is an invitation to reflect on central questions in contemporary architecture: Which topics are relevant today? Which projects demonstrate exemplary solutions? And what might the future hold for building in Switzerland?
Curated by the S AM Swiss Architecture Museum and the magazine werk, bauen+wohnen.​

Publication: S AM Schweizerisches Architekturmuseum (Andreas Ruby) and werk, bauen + wohnen (Roland Züger), on behalf of Stiftung Architektur Schweiz SAS (Eds.): ‹SAY 2025/26›.
Park Books, ISBN 978-3-03860-456-3, 272 Pages, EN/DE/FR/IT, CHF 49.–

29.11.2025 - 19.04.2026

Housing for Housing: The cooperative as a laboratory for coexistence

The exhibition presents cooperative housing regionally, nationally and internationally as a laboratory of non-profit-oriented cohabitation from which the entire city can benefit.