Solothurn School

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The Solothurn School was a loose grouping of young Swiss architects in the area at the southern foot of the Jura . These included Fritz Haller , Franz Füeg , Max Schlup , Alfons Barth and Hans Zaugg . Swiss post-war architecture was shaped by her work.

history

The name “Solothurn School” goes back to an anecdote: An unknown French urban planning professor spoke of an “école de Soleure” in a lecture, and an employee of Franz Füeg ​​asked him what it was about. Jürgen Joedicke picked up the term in 1969 in his book Modern Architecture, Flows and Tendencies . The four architectural offices - Barth and Zaugg jointly operated a studio - always planned their works independently of one another, and did not form a group or write manifestos, even if they knew one another and influenced one another, of course. What they have in common, however, is an attitude that gives strong weight to architectural order, prefers smooth, industrial-looking materials such as steel and glass, and values prefabrication and assembly.

Appreciation

After the war, the Swiss architecture was still very the Heimatstil connected. Only a few buildings by OR Salvisberg , Le Corbusier , Hans Brechbühler and others had caused a sensation in Switzerland, while architects such as Oscar Niemeyer and Mies van der Rohe had already implemented large-scale modern projects internationally. In the general mood of optimism of the fifties and sixties, new construction methods became possible and applied that had been known for years but were not needed due to a backward-looking way of thinking. The new buildings should be made of steel, concrete and large glass fronts.

It was more by chance that the five architects who thought the same way as Mies van der Rohe and from the same region came across each other. Independently of each other, they set up their own offices and applied for public construction projects. This is how modern school buildings, workshops, public buildings and residential buildings in steel frame construction with flat roofs and bright interiors were created. This enabled them to plan and execute larger objects. The Barth & Zaugg office in Aarau realized a number of large projects and, with Fritz Haller, was also involved in the construction of the SBB training center Center Loewenberg in Murten .

The architects

Exemplary work and places of activity

Works: Higher Technical College (Engineering School) Brugg - Windisch , 1964/1966; USM - furniture systems
Main work: Piuskirche Meggen , 1966
Main work: Congress Center Biel, 1966
Works: Sälischulhaus Olten , 1964/1968; Abdankungshalle Aarau, 1968/1974; Old Cantonal School Aarau, Paul – Karrer House, 1969; joint office of:
Independent work: Schönenwerd old people's home 1976/1978
Independent work: Architect house in Olten, 1956

literature

  • Jürg Graser: Filled emptiness. Building the school in Solothurn: Barth, Zaugg, Schlup, Füeg, Haller. gta Verlag, Zurich 2014, ISBN 978-3-85676-281-0 .
  • Roland Wälchli: impulses from a region. Solothurn architecture 1940–1980. Architekturforum, Solothurn 2005, ISBN 3-905470-25-X .
Blurb: “By recreating an architecture of simplicity and transparency, the so-called Jurasüdfuss architecture freed post-war Swiss architecture from fearful tradition and at the same time created a basis to withstand later postmodern fashion trends. The outstanding achievements of five architects and two engineers in this region achieved international renown and for a long time made the Canton of Solothurn the guiding star of Swiss architecture of this era. "
  • Jürg Graser: The Solothurn School. Dissertation. ETH Zurich, 2008, online
  • Catalog raisonné: Alfons Barth; Hans Zaugg; Franz Füeg; Fritz Haller; Max Schlup . In Werk, Bauen + Wohnen, vol. 68 (1981) issue 7/8. Pp. 66-68 doi : 10.5169 / seals-51975 .
  • Jürgen Joedicke: Modern architecture, currents and tendencies. Krämer, Stuttgart / Bern 1969.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jürg Graser: The Solothurn School. Dissertation. ETH Zurich, 2008. p. 9.
  2. ↑ Former employees of the F. Haller and Barth & Zaugg offices continue the tradition of the Solothurn School
  3. ↑ Heimatschutzbericht Wasgenringschulhaus Basel, Bruno and Fritz Haller 1951/1954
  4. ↑ University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland ; Obituary for Fitz Haller ( Memento from February 15, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ^ Website detail: Franz Füeg, Piuskirche, Meggen
  6. ^ Critical view on Der Bund , accessed on February 21, 2013