Laufen is the official partner of the Salon Suisse at the Biennale 2012

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The “Salon Suisse” is an event programme which accompanies the Swiss contribution to the Architecture Biennale 2012 in Venice with readings, lectures, panel discussions, workshops and performances. The “Salon Suisse” is initiated by the Swiss Cultural Foundation Pro Helvetia and takes in the Bel Etage of the “Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi”, official partner of the programme is the Swiss bathroom specialist Laufen.From 29th August to 25th November the Biennale in Venice is the mecca of the international architectural scene. The 13th Mostra Internazionale di Architettura – la Biennale di Venezia is directed by the British architect David Chipperfield, who presents at the Central Pavilion at the Giardini and the Arsenale a thematic exhibition called “Common Ground”, that consists of 66 projects by architects, photographers, artists, critics and scholars from all over the world. Also 55 nations will be represented with their own pavilions, including Switzerland, which regularly takes part in the Biennale since 1920 and has its own pavilion in the Giardini since 1951. This year, Switzerland will be represented by the architect and ETH-Professor Miroslav Šik and his exhibition “And now the ensemble!!!”, which requests colleagues, clients and authorities to construct new buildings which give due sympathy to their environment.

In addition, the Swiss Cultural Foundation Pro Helvetia is for the first time supplementing the Swiss contribution with a comprehensive event programme, curated by Robert Guy Wilson, editor of London’s architecture magazine “Block”. Under the label “Salon Suisse” readings, lectures, discussion, workshops and performances will take place at Palazzo Trevisan, which aim to promote the exchange between the professionals and the public very much in the spirit of a literary salon. “Laufen is partner of the Salon Suisse because our products are designed respecting the principals of internationally renowned Swiss Architecture: clear form, quality and sustainability. The Biennials of Venice are the platform par excellence for international cultural exchange, as practiced at the Salon Suisse at Palazzo Trevisan”, says Alberto Magrans, Senior Managing Director of the Laufen Bathrooms AG.

The “Salon Suisse” will start on 28th August with the panel discussion “Common Images: Architecture and the Iconic Turn”, organized jointly with the ETH Zurich. From 28th August to 1st September, then will take place the ”Salon Suisse 1“ with the programme “Talking architecture, theory… and a touch of the Swiss“; from 16th to 20th October the “Salon Suisse 2” under the motto “Talking architecture, practice… and a touch of the Swiss” and from 20th to 24th November the “Salon Suisse 3” with the theme of “Talking architecture, media… and a touch of the Swiss”. In addition to the official event programme, the “Salon Suisse” will be open for the public during the three weeks of event from Tuesday to Saturday between 5.30 pm and 9.30 pm, to offer all visitors a platform for discussions, exchange of experiences, debates and meetings with like-minded peers and protagonists.

Daniel Fountain / 30.08.2012

Editor, Hotel Designs

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