AMURS – Love Affairs | Valentin Bearth

The second expert lecture of this year's November Talks in Stuttgart was held by Swiss architect Valentin Bearth, co-founder of the Bearth & Deplazes office in Chur. In his introduction, Professor Peter Cheret talked about “analogue architecture”, a movement which only started developing at the end of Valentin Bearth's studies at the ETH Zurich.

Its protagonists shifted the pictorial element of architecture – analogies and references to the existing and to the past – back the focus of architectural work, thus questioning the rigid premises of modern design. Professor Cheret also placed the work of Bearth & Deplazes in this conceptual context.

Valentin Bearth titled his lecture “Amurs – Liebschaften” (“Amurs – love affairs”), putting his talk into the context of his office's travelling exhibition and publication with the same name. At the exhibition, which was created in 2013 for the 25th anniversary of Bearth & Deplazes, the architects present a personal selection from their work that illustrates the interplay between the existing and the new as well as between landscape and buildings.

To start, Bearth took his audience on an imaginary journey to the Canton of Graubünden – the main area of his architectural work – providing an introduction to his architectural way of thinking by using the long-standing relationship between nature and artifact in this region. In this Alpine region, which is shaped by ancient trading routes, the rough mountain landscape has long since been fusing with elements created by man. To him, landscape means cultural landscape in this context, the architect explains: “Roads, artifacts placed into the landscape”, tunnels and bridges characterise this cultural landscape just as much as river dams and, last but not least, the natural topography of the “canton of 150 valleys”.

He does not regard landscape as a mere panorama – the three dimensional space always plays a crucial role for him. Bearth illustrates this landscape image and its development using paintings by Turner and Caspar David Friedrich as well as with well-known buildings. He sees the current Alpine region as a landscape urbanised by infrastructure, technology and recreational facilities, requiring a non-isolated approach just like the urban context.

Subsequently, Valentin Bearth used six selected construction works from the years 1999 to 2014 to give the audience an understanding of his views and his architectural approach. Starting with the Carmenna chairlift in Arosa (2001) and the holiday cottage on Maiensäss Cania, the Gantenbein vineyard in Fläsch (2006), the swimming pool in St. Moritz (2014) through to the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona (2013) and the Monte Rosa hut near Zermatt (2009), the construction works were presented to the audience with descriptive text and images.

In his explanations, he placed a special emphasis on the context encountered in each case and its interactions with the resulting construction work. His observations gained during the creation process or after completion, as well as anecdotes about the projects provided a fascinating insight. Bearth also used works of art, well-known architectural examples, or everyday images to reveal multi-layered analogies in the complex and precise work of his office. In addition to discussing and staging the omnipresent Alpine landscape and addressing basic architectural typologies, the designs of Bearth & Deplazes always consider the idea of how users perceive and use the building. Valentin Bearth finished his lecture and opened the discussion with a grandiose Alpine panorama where the Monte Rosa hut blends almost completely into the mountain scenery.

Watch the interview with Valentin Bearth (Video | 1:24 min.)