Gion Antoni Caminada[1] (born 8 August 1957)[2] is a Swiss architect and professor of architecture at the ETH Zurich. He is known for his works in and around the Swiss village of Vrin, including the Stiva da morts mortuary. Many of Caminada's projects are built of wood in a minimalist style mixing modern design with traditional Swiss methods and materials.
Education and career
editCaminada was born in Vrin, Graubünden, Switzerland.[2] After apprenticing as a carpenter and cabinetmaker, Caminada attended the Kunstgewerbeschule Zürich (now part of the Zurich University of the Arts).[2][3] He then completed a postgraduate degree in architecture at ETH Zurich, opening an architecture office in his home village of Vrin in the late 1970s.[2][3] In 1998 he became an assistant professor of architecture at the ETH.[3] In 2008 he was named an associate professor for architecture and design at the same institution.[2][3] In 2020 he was made a full professor for architecture and design at the ETH.[3]
Works
edit
Caminada is known for his works concentrated in and around Vrin.[2][4] Perhaps his most well-known work is the Stiva da morts (Romansh: room of the dead) or Totenstube (German: room of the dead),[5] a mortuary used for wakes and funerals designed and built adjacent to Vrin's church between 1996 and 2002.[1][5][6] Another key work in Vrin is the Mehrzweckhalle Vrin, a multipurpose hall built in 1995 and designed in collaboration with civil engineer Jürg Conzett.[7] Many of Caminada's projects are built of wood in a minimalist style mixing modern design with traditional Swiss methods and materials.[2] In this way his work is comparable to that of Peter Zumthor, a fellow Swiss architect also hailing from Graubünden.[2]
Caminada's other works include a house in Blatten bei Naters, a house in Degen, a girls' boarding school dormitory at Disentis Abbey and other projects in Disentis, a school in Duvin, renovating a guesthouse in Valendas, and a residential building in Siat, among many others.
In 2014 the House of Art in České Budějovice, Czech Republic, exhibited a collection of Caminada's works.[2][4]
Awards
edit- Auszeichnungen für gute Bauten Graubünden: 1994, 2013, 2017
- Eidgenössischer Preis für freie Kunst (now known as the Swiss Art Awards), 1996[8]
- Deutscher Kritikerpreis, 2008[9]
- Prix Meret Oppenheim, 2010[10]
- Global Award for Sustainable Architecture, 2016[11]
References
edit- ^ a b "Stiva da morts". Hidden Architecture. 5 August 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Frearson, Amy (16 April 2014). "New exhibition showcases the work of Swiss architect Gion A Caminada". Dezeen. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "Professur". Professor Gion A. Caminada. ETH Zurich. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
- ^ a b "One architect's Swiss village revival in retrospect". Phaidon. 25 April 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
- ^ a b Regiun Surselva (2020). "Stiva da morts /Totenstube, Vrin". surselva.info (in German). Surselva Turismus. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ Tschanz, Martin. "A community mortuary building: Stiva da morts – Totenstube". archiweb.cz. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ "Mehrzweckhalle Vrin". Atlas of Places. October 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
- ^ "Alumni – Swiss Art Awards". Swiss Art Awards. Swiss Federal Office of Culture. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
- ^ "Verband der deutschen Kritiker e.V." (in German). Archived from the original on 7 March 2009. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
- ^ "Prix Meret Oppenheim – Alumni". Swiss Art Awards. Swiss Federal Office of Culture. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
- ^ "Winners 2016". Global Award for Sustainable Architecture. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
Further reading
edit- a+u 2015:10: Gion A. Caminada (in English and Japanese). Tokyo: a+u: Architecture and Urbanism Magazine. 2015. ISBN 978-4-9002-1183-4. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
- Cabalzar, Andreas; Caminada, Gion A.; Tschanz, Martin (2003). Stiva da Morts: Gion A. Caminada – vom Nutzen der Architektur (in German). Zürich: Gta Verlag ETH Hönggerberg. ISBN 978-3-8567-6116-5.
- Caminada, Gion A. (2018). Aicher, Florian (ed.). On the path to building: A conversation about architecture with Florian Aicher. Basel: Birkhäuser. ISBN 978-3-0356-1540-1. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
- Caminada, Gion A.; Conzett, Jürg; Schmid, Peter; Tschanz, Martin; Rieder, Peter; Zschokke, Walter (2008). Schlorhaufer, Bettina (ed.). Gion A. Caminada: Cul zuffel e l'aura dado (in German and English). Luzern: Quart Verlag. ISBN 978-3-907631-69-0.