Approximations The Architecture of Peter Markli

by Mohsen Mostafavi

The Swiss architect Peter Märkli is best known for La Congiunta, the gallery in the canton of Ticino that houses the reliefs of the sculptor Hans Josephson. He has also designed many residential projects in Switzerland. His unconventional approach, combined with his understanding of materials and color, make him a unique figure in contemporary European architecture. Approximations focuses on Märkli’s work from 1982 to the present. It traces the professional and political impact on Märkli’s early work of Hans Josephson and the architect Rudolph Olgiati. It also shows how the elemental, almost "archaic" quality of Märkli’s work is influenced by a wide variety of sources, including Greek antiquity, the Renaissance, the simple farmhouses of the Po Valley, African and Mexican art, and Matisse’s paintings. The book contains an essay by Mohsen Mostafavi and an extensive conversation between Märkli and Marcel Meili.

Genres: Architecture

Paperback

First published May 1, 2002

About the author

Mohsen Mostafavi (1954) is an Iranian-American architect and educator. He is the Dean and Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He has been the Gale and Ira Drukier Dean of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning at Cornell University, and the Chairman of the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Emre Senoglu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neither too little nor too much. Just the right amount of information about Markli and his earlier projects.