Between Light and Shadow

The rhythmic alternation of day and night organizes the course of things. Only through light and darkness do space and time become tangible, gaining meaning, significance, and form. Even though they appear as opposites, they form a unity: when the night recedes and the day begins, when the day slowly fades.

Where there is light, there is also shadow. Where there is shadow, there is also light. Yet the boundaries are never sharp: the darkness penetrates the light, while traces of light can be found in the dark. Is it not ultimately the in-between, the multifaceted gray area, that allows us to have a more nuanced perspective?

Three houses gently nestle against the steep slope in Malbun. In their outward appearance, they lean towards the traditional mountain dwellings— the homes and barns on the alpine pastures that were once used in summer.

This (first) catalogue for “RESPONSE” maps Paris and is published to coincid e with the third exhibition in Stuttgart. It, too, has a multi-layered design, through reading in different directions, through large jumps in the scaling of illustrations, even through the sequence when turning the pages. This changes, in fact, depending on how the almost imperceptibly incised registers at the cutting edge are used. Texts from the last exhibitions find their place here once again. Jonathan Sergison and Jan de Vylder already reflected Boltshauser‘s work in the monograph. Alexandre Theriot wrote his text on the occasion of the Paris exhibition. They all stand for the over-arching and layered nature that Roger Boltshauser seeks in his work. While the representation of architecture is always related to the object being shown, it immediately develops its own life. Architecture is sketched in order to negotiate it, it is drawn in order to let it emerge, and what is built is finally captured in pictures in order to illustrate it. Sketch, plan, photograph, a logical sequence.

Der iranische Kollege Morteza Majidi schrieb: »Dear Andrea, we are fighting for Freedom. Please be with us with an art work for women of Iran.« Es geht um die Ermordung von MAHSA AMINI und die Unterdrückung eines ganzen Volkes, besonders von Frauen, mit Hilfe von scheinheiligen Glaubenssätzen eines korrupten, machtbesessenen Regimes. Unser Plakatmotiv thematisiert diese Fesselung und Knebelung. Stich für Stich macht die von Hand in das Papier genähte Stickerei die Versalien des lateinischen gesetzten Namens von MAHSA AMINI sichtbar. Grün, weiß und rot stehen für die Farben der iranischen Flagge und damit verbundenen Symbolik: Islam, Friede und Mut.

A catalog about the longstanding friendship between Wilhelm Otten and Gottfried Honegger and his artistic work. A catalog in two parts, with no beginning or end, the transition between which reveals the turning point of this friendship – the death of Honegger. Numerous discussion throughout the friendly relationship led Wilhelm Otten to create a platform for encounters with people interested in art. In 2005 he opened up his art collection, entering it into a public dialogue. As a representative of Concrete Art, Gottfried Honegger is one of the most important Swiss artists of the 20th century. In his long and – to the very end – highly creative life, he created an extensive oeuvre. For Honneger art was more than just jewelry for the elite, he saw it as an existential necessity for all. He brought it back to the primal forces: form, color and material. His geometric art contrasted the smooth and rough / glossy and matt / radical and forgiving. The design of the book encompasses this dichotomy in its concept. The photographic language of museum representation complements that one of art in context. The interplay of smooth and rough paper follows the glossy and matt screen print finishes of the cover. The two parts of the book are linked together into an endless loop of content, reflecting Honegger’s artistic work.

To mark an exhibition of the work of Karl-Heinz Ströhle Atelier Andrea Gassner designed a 132-page “Art-in-Building Magazine”, employing design qualities that relate to those found in Karl-Heinz Ströhle’s work: white space, clear lines, reduction, materiality, translucence, and movement. The pages of text are consistently separated from the image pages and are yet woven together using a transparent paper. The way in which the generous image pages and the typography of the text pages overlap creates an entirely new dynamism and spatiality. After turning the page to an image, the project title in large print blends behind it, like a glazed underprint.

Although Roger Boltshauser is known for his work as architect, for a long time it seemed uncertain whether his path would take him to architecture or to art. Impressed by Joseph Beuys, Anselm Kiefer, Arnulf Rainer, but also by Swiss representatives of neo-expressionism, parallel to his study of architecture he also embarked on creating an oeuvre of art and exhibited his work. He has remained loyal to both disciplines, with the result that his artworks cannot be explained without his architecture and, vice versa, his architecture cannot be fully understood without a knowledge of his artwork. This architect’s work is as diverse as it is independent. From the sketch design phase onward, climate-conscious building is a central theme that is expressed in his projects in a contemporary way. The present monograph brings together the buildings and the artworks in a single publication for the first time. The design concept is based on the architect’s work process and places sketches and plans before the photographs of the process and the architecture. The low opacity paper and the softness with which the pages open in the core gives the publication and its dense content the requisite lightness and makes the visual order perceptible.

The new SWG production building in Waldenburg blazes new trails in the structural use of timber for an industrial building. The innovative structure of the roof to the hall requires almost no columns and represents a pioneering achievement in structural timber engineering. The junctions of the delicate structural members were made using the completely new timber-based material “BauBuche” and the highly specialised SWG Assy screws – and it is precisely this high-tech product that will be manufactured here in the future. The title “Corporate Timber” is a reference to the way in which the architecture links the choice of material, the efficiency, and the corporate philosophy of this screw manufacturer. Reason enough to produce a comprehensive publication about this building with the support of the well-known German construction publishers DETAIL, specialist journalist Marko Sauer as editor, and other excellent authors. The “script“ for structuring the contents was based on the way in which a woodscrew is used: putting in place – screwing in – connecting. The visual expression of this takes the form of triple punched holes that start at the cover and continue through the book to different depths. This three-dimensional intervention is something completely new in bibliophile book design and, as well as having a strong visual impact, it also guides the user. Each of the three punched holes ends precisely where the respective chapter begins. In three steps the approach to the building project, the materialisation, and structural innovations, as well the architecture are presented as a whole. Texts in both German and English accompany the series of images as well as self-explanatory plan drawings specially conditioned for the printed matter. Diagram graphics that are reduced to essentials function as a didactic aid for complex research work on a life cycle assessment of the building.

The Stiftsarchiv (Abbey of St Gall) commissioned a a g to design an events poster for the big annual exhibition “Aqua – Mönche am Wasser“. It was also to be animated as a digital affice and presented in digital media. Today, the animation of images has even reached the classic analogue medium of the poster. This special effect is presented on what are called “e-panels“ – an outdoor display in the well-known Swiss world format. The headlines are large, golden, and pushed to the edges. The photorealistic “blotches” applied to the Baroque, illusionistic painting of the sky in the form of oversized drops of water are what constitute the image’s appeal. The spiritual significance of water and the way this meshes with the culture of religion is, after all, the theme of this exhibition. In the animated version the water appears to flow. The challenge was to prevent the animation from interfering with the distillation of contents to a catchy punchline that is a basic element of poster design and to avoid lapsing into merely decorative effects. The sole purpose of the reduced animation is to strengthen and continue narrative character of the visual idea.

In accordance with the purpose for which it was founded the DBU (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt/German Federal Environmental Foundation) subsidises innovative, environmentally conscious, model building projects. The concept for the subsidies also includes financing scientific studies of the respective projects and disseminating these in quality book form. Atelier Gassner was commissioned to devise a concept for an edition consisting of several volumes. The first publication documents the new building for Schmuttertal Gymnasium (high-school): here innovative educational ideas and a participative approach to planning produce unusual spatial systems, ambitious ecological goals direct the construction, and functionality and inspiration shape the architecture. Client and subsidy provider, users and planners, experts for building law and technical services document the creation of this building, augmented by plans and photographs. The editions were deliberately published in German, and the search for a name led to the striking and yet self-explanatory term “Bauband” (literally “building volume”). The challenge was how best to describe and depict complex contents so that they are clearly legible and can be quickly understood. At the same time this book was not intended to be a standard illustrated architectural volume nor a dry treatise with a preponderance of text. Using the tools provided by micro and macro typographical design and making considerable demands on editorial photography the narrative requirements could be successfully met. The plans and diagrams, which were produced especially for this book, provide in-depth information. Through the format alone, the easy to open “Swiss brochure” and the stable card binding, the book suggests a report with the character of a working folder. A colour, which differs from volume to volume, contrasts with the restrained grey that is used for the covers of all the volumes. This striking coloured framework for the book block is reflected in completely coloured pages that separate the chapters and visibly articulate the contents and, when one looks at the cut edge of the closed book, appear like inserted “floor levels”.

In accordance with the purpose for which it was founded the DBU (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt/German Federal Environmental Foundation) subsidises innovative, environmentally conscious, model building projects. The concept for the subsidies also includes financing scientific studies of the respective projects and disseminating these in quality book form. Atelier Gassner was commissioned to devise a concept for an edition consisting of several volumes. The first publication documents the new building for Schmuttertal Gymnasium (high-school): here innovative educational ideas and a participative approach to planning produce unusual spatial systems, ambitious ecological goals direct the construction, and functionality and inspiration shape the architecture. Client and subsidy provider, users and planners, experts for building law and technical services document the creation of this building, augmented by plans and photographs. The editions were deliberately published in German, and the search for a name led to the striking and yet self-explanatory term “Bauband” (literally “building volume”). The challenge was how best to describe and depict complex contents so that they are clearly legible and can be quickly understood. At the same time this book was not intended to be a standard illustrated architectural volume nor a dry treatise with a preponderance of text. Using the tools provided by micro and macro typographical design and making considerable demands on editorial photography the narrative requirements could be successfully met. The plans and diagrams, which were produced especially for this book, provide in-depth information. Through the format alone, the easy to open “Swiss brochure” and the stable card binding, the book suggests a report with the character of a working folder. A colour, which differs from volume to volume, contrasts with the restrained grey that is used for the covers of all the volumes. This striking coloured framework for the book block is reflected in completely coloured pages that separate the chapters and visibly articulate the contents and, when one looks at the cut edge of the closed book, appear like inserted “floor levels”.