Valero olgiati iconographic autobiography of malcolm

This was surprising, as the thought of asking about anything else had never occurred to me. The only truly problematic condition was that I submit all my questions in advance, with a prescribed deadline so tight as to almost ensure non-compliance. Inevitably, the interview did not take place. Like Zumthor, Olgiati is an autodidactic Swiss architect known for uncompromising, minimally ornamented, exactingly crafted buildings.

Whereas Zumthor has recently attained mainstream success — awarded the Pritzker Prize, selected for the Serpentine Pavilion, championed by Alain de Botton — Olgiati remains a cult figure. By cult figure, I do not only mean that he enjoys a small but passionate following. There is a cult of Olgiati, made up of only the most devout of architects, a select Donald Judd-loving, Wong Kar-wai-watching, capital-A-architect crew.

One does not attract a cult following by accident. A cult must be cult-ivated, the wheat separated from the chaff. Roche did not just spurn a PR opportunity. He also posted the letter on his website, proof to his followers of unstinting personal integrity. To try to understand how Olgiati has attained his status, you might flick through El Croquis edition no.

Here you will encounter the work of a minimalist Swiss architect more or less like any other. You might then turn to Olgiatia small, slim book containing an illustrated transcript of an Olgiati lecture, which has been published by Birkhauser in several languages. Image: Courtesy Meyer Dudesek Architekten. However, neither of these texts will provide as much insight into the Olgiati mythology as the articles provided by his studio as one of the listed conditions.

The other emailed article, written by expatriate Australian architect Peter Wilson for AA Files 65is most illuminating.

Valero olgiati iconographic autobiography of malcolm

One can only speculate why this article, in which Olgiati is both venerated and ridiculed, was considered by his own studio as necessary preparation for an interview. Image: Javier Miguel Verme. Image: Courtesty Archive Olgiati. Finally, it was time to meet the man himself, albeit at a distance. With groomed grey hair and near-transparent glasses, the middle-aged Olgiati dresses in the loose-fitting black garb of a sensei.

But there are none of the dour pronouncements of the printed-word Olgiati. His kind, lilting voice conveys an unexpected charm. From the outset, it is clear how much his father, Rudolf Olgiati, has shaped that outlook. The elder Olgiati was a revered figure whose work merged Modernist principles with vernacular Swiss architecture. While Olgiati still lives in the family home, he refers to his work as a reaction against that parental legacy.

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