Franz Oswald

Franz Renato Giuseppe Oswald (born January 24, 1938 in Bern ) is a Swiss architect , town planner and university lecturer . of the ETH Zurich .

Live and act

Franz Oswald completed his architecture studies at the ETH Zurich in 1963 with a diploma under Werner Max Moser . He first worked for Oswald Mathias Ungers in his Cologne and Berlin offices, who at the time were heavily involved in conceptual design with urban planning theory. He then went to Cornell University for further studies , where he received a master's degree in urban planning from Colin Rowe in 1966 . This was immediately followed by assistant professorships at Cornell (1966–1968), Cooper Union in New York (1967) and EPF in Lausanne (1971), ETH Zurich (1972–1977). There he became a full professor for architecture and design in 1978 - in 1993 he moved to the Institute for Architecture and Urban Development. In 1994 he founded the transdisciplinary research project Synoikos with Peter Baccini , Professor of Material Management and Disposal Technology . In 2003 he retired.

From 1974 Oswald had his own architectural office in Bern, which later operated under the name of “O&S Architects”. However, he often propagated his ideas in the form of projects and exhibitions, in addition to which he presented them in the form of relatively few buildings, which were received in many ways and made a remarkable contribution to participatory building or the network character of urban development.

Works (selection)

Writings, exhibitions and conceptual projects

• Projects for Manhattan. Exhibition MOMA, New York 1968. (With Colin Rowe and others)
• Manila - project for the development of its urban environment. 1975. (With P. Dubach, TC Guggenheim et al.)
• Ghala Dokhtar Atechkade. Project for the promotion of Sassanid monuments, Firouzabad 1977.
• Primordial phenomena of architecture: manifestations - meanings - effects. 4 volumes. Publishing house of the professional associations at Swiss universities and technologies (vdf), Zurich 1977.
• With Peter Baccini: Netzstadt. Transdisciplinary methods for converting urban systems. vdf, Zurich 1998. ISBN 3-7281-2702-7 .
• With Peter Baccini: Netzstadt: Introduction to urban design. Birkhäuser, Basel 2004, ISBN 3-7643-6962-0 .
• Helvéti-Cité: The “Netzstadt Drei-Seen-Land” project. Case study on the urban design of the territory. vdf, Zurich 2004, ISBN 3-7281-2961-5 .

Superstructures

• “Bleiche” housing estate, Bern, 1978–1981.
• Scheuering model estate , Deggendorf , 1988–1990.
• Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bern , 1991.
• Drosselweg residential courtyards , Wohlen , 1992–1994.
• “Prosper III” settlement, as part of the IBA Emscher Park, Bottrop , 1993–1995.

literature

• Ursina Jakob: Oswald, Franz (Renato Giuseppe) . In: Isabelle Rucki and Dorothee Huber (eds.): Architectural Lexicon of Switzerland - 19./20. Century. Birkhäuser, Basel 1998, ISBN 3-7643-5261-2 . P. 408 f.