23.03. - 04.05.2014

Orientations. Young Swiss Architects

In the year 2014, the Swiss Architecture Museum S AM celebrates its 30th anniversary. The anniversary year gets underway with the exhibition «Orientations. Young Swiss Architects», which is curated by Hubertus Adam, director of S AM, and which presents six positions within contemporary Swiss architecture: architects who are more-or-less in their thirties.

The aim is to demonstrate a spectrum of different attitudes, rather than to declare the emergence of a new style or a new generation of Swiss architecture. 

The term "orientations" is deliberately kept ambiguous for this spring exhibition. Naturally, it is about orientation in the sense of presentin information, but also in the sense of mentality and vision. Thus, the presentation does not focus on the description of projects, but on a level of reflection on one's own work.

There are many questions: What is the relationship between vision and professional practice? In which fields do young architects operate? How do the young of today respond to the various trends and "schools" in their designs and structures? What is the significance of architectural role models who brought contemporary Swiss architecture worldwide recognition? Are they sources of inspiration, or thorns in the side? Are tradition and innovation combining anew in an age of globalisation and internationalisation?

Accompanying Program:

22.03.14, 7pm: Opening & Discussion
27.03.14, 6pm: Guided Tour
10.04.14, 6pm: Guided Tour
24.04.14, 6pm: Guided Tour
26.04.14, 9.30am - 6.00pm: Conference Basel

With:

BHSF
Bureau A
Pascal Flammer
Gruppe
LVPH
Vécsey Schmidt

The exhibition is supported by:

Jacqueline Spengler Stiftung
SWISSPEARL by Eternit
SCHÄFER Metallbau und Schlosserei
GRASSI & Co. AG
KARL BUBENHOFER AG

Upcoming exhibitions

19.09.2026 - 03.01.2027

Tony Fretton: Practice

Opening: 18/9/2026, 7 PM

The S AM Swiss Architecture Museum is proud to announce PRACTICE, a retrospective exhibition of selected projects of architect Tony Fretton (b. 1945, London). He established Tony Fretton Architects in London in 1984, which ran until 2024. His published texts on architecture are numerous, and he has taught extensively, including as Chair of Interiors Buildings and Cities at the Faculty of Architecture at TU Delft, and as guest professor at GSD Harvard, ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne. He lives and works in London.

Fretton’s buildings and projects are presented at S AM through texts, photographs and drawings. Together, they show Fretton’s practice as continuity of reflection on the existing environment, including the social, cultural and political dimensions of the city and what lies outside it.