An Architect Who’s Known for Aesthetic Purity and Counts Kanye West as a Client
The New York Times on Valerio Olgiati
Although they have never met him, it’s unsurprising that the pair would want to include a homage to the 63-year-old Swiss architect, who practices in his tiny hometown, Flims, an Alpine enclave two hours from Zurich. Little known beyond the design avant-garde, Valerio Olgiati is a cult figure of the digital age, revered by the cognoscenti: His 25 or so conceptual, meticulously crafted structures, as well as his computer renderings of those never (or at least not yet) erected, have become legendary for their idea-driven purity and shocking forms. That his portfolio is so limited — unlike major firms where there are hundreds on staff and dozens of in-progress projects, he has a team of 10, which includes his architect wife, Tamara — only heightens his influence. He is regarded as a bulwark of incorruptibility in a world of starchitects who stamp their names on billionaire-friendly residential towers and Instagrammable but ultimately gimmicky buildings. Relying upon a theoretical framework and his own volcanic charisma — he has a reputation for reducing students to tears, and has never shied from expressing contempt for peers who he believes have sold out — his Howard Roarkian devotion stands out as a rebuke to an architecturally milquetoast, commercially driven era. By Nancy Hass
read the full article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/20/t-magazine/valerio-olgiati-architecture.html
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