20/017

Schenker Salvi Weber

Architecture Office
Vienna/Bern

«Architecture is society – architecture is everything.»

Please, introduce yourself and your Studio…

Our paths crossed in Vienna in 2009. We already knew each other loosely, before coincidentally becoming neighbors in a shared office. It didn’t take long before we found out that we were working on the same competition and spontaneously decided to design this one together and, in turn, be able to submit a proposal for another competition in the same time frame. During these first design phases we soon realized that we got on well together and that our different approaches could lead to coherent concepts. We were able to finance the office with some initial award remunerations, before winning our first open competition in 2011, which founded the basis for our progress to this day.

How did you find your way into the field of Architecture?

Before our studies, all three of us completed apprenticeships as structural draftsmen or carpenters. People in our family circles raised our awareness for architecture already in our childhood, and that sparked the flame, so to say.

Our educations at universities in Biel (CH), Mendrisio (CH), Biberach (DE), and the University of Applied Arts Vienna (AT) provide a broad spectrum of knowledge and ideologies, which we could draw upon over the years or in some cases discard when necessary.

What comes to your mind, when you think about your diploma projects?
Our three diploma theses dealt with very different topics. While I designed a workshop-like studio for the faculty of architecture in Biel (2000) as a window to public space, Andres, supervised by Zaha Hadid in Vienna, developed an office tower in Dubai (2007) based on graffiti.

What are your experiences founding Schenker Salvi Weber and working as self-employed architects?

As mentioned before, we got to know each other by working on competitions together and sharing all the related emotional stress situations. Previously, we all had been project leaders at ambitious and renowned offices (Jabornegg & Pálffy, Dietrich Untertrifaller, Zaha Hadid), so we had good insights into the functioning – or not functioning – organization of a structure and the challenges in a design process with high aspirations. Having realized projects at different scales, from a culture magazine to scenography and also buildings, the step into independent work was rather smooth and fluid.

Team – Schenker Salvi Weber

How would you characterize Vienna as location for practicing architecture? How is the context of this place influencing your work?

Generally speaking, Vienna is a good place for us. There is a very lively exchange in the architecture scene, which we actively participate in. The Architekturzentrum and other organizations in the city offer a varied program that goes well beyond the classic topics in architecture. The universities provide multifaceted educational opportunities, which we are involved in through our teaching activities at the technical university TU Wien (Hochbau1, Prof. Staufer & Hasler). The historically rooted scale of the city has a long tradition, which networks Vienna beyond the Austrian borders with the rest of the world.

Especially through our activities at the TU, we have the possibility to deal with the city’s rich urban fabric and its icons. Some of our projects, like the Post am Rochus, draw analogies with these icons (Postsparkasse, Otto Wagner) and anchor our thoughts in the perpetual building of the city.

What does your desk/working space look like?

Profil_Bueroeinblicke_SchenkerSalviWeberArchitekten_001

Profil_Bueroeinblicke_SchenkerSalviWeberArchitekten_004

Profil_Bueroeinblicke_SchenkerSalviWeberArchitekten_005

Profil_Bueroeinblicke_SchenkerSalviWeberArchitekten_007

Office Space – Schenker Salvi Weber

What is the essence of architecture for you personally?

Site / Concept / Structure / Detail / Space / Human

Your architectural mentors?

A Books

Architektur im Widerspruch,
Heinrich Klotz, John W. Cook, 1974

A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction,
Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa & Murray Silverstein, 1977
(German translation by Hermann Czech)

analog und digital/ Analogous and Digital
Otl Aicher, 1991

SMLXL,
Rem Koolhaas, Bruce Mau, 1997

B Teachers

Ralph Tuth,
A wonderful, enthusiastic teacher.

Francois Renaud,
An intellectual spirit who helped us discover the visible and invisible momentsof architecture.

C Works

Edwin Lutyens,
Fantastic works at the transition from eclecticism to the modern.

Jože Plečnik,
For his unexpected and whimsical approach

Ricardo Bofill,
Wonderful works up to the 1970s…

Herzog & de Meuron,
The broad scope linked with a high level of conceptual and manual creativity

Hermann Czech,
As a translator, writer, and anecdote-teller in envisioned and built detail

OMA / Rem Koolhaas
An inspiration since early days in school

D Buildings

Theophil Hansen,
Parliament Building, Vienna, 1883

Adolf Loos,
Villa Müller, Prague, 1930

Josef Frank & Oscar Wlach
Villa Beer, Vienna, 1931

Philip Johnson,
Kline Biology Tower, New York, 1966

Marcel Breuer,
Whitney Museum, New York, 1966

Herzog & de Meuron,
Ricola Storage Building, Laufen, 1983

Luigi Caccia Dominioni,
His Milan buildings and renovations in the 1960s

Paulo Mendes da Rocha,
Casa Paulo Mendes da Rocha, 1966

Kevin Roche,
Ford Foundation Building, New York, 1968

Ricardo Bofill,
Walden 7, Sant Just Desvern, Spain, 1975

Walter Pichler,
House next to the Smithy, Unterbirchabruck, Italy, 2002

Peter Zumthor,
Bruder Klaus Field Chapel, Walchendorf, Germany, 2007

How do you communicate Architecture?

Our work develops from a range of techniques, from analog sketches and models to digital drawings and three-dimensional representations.
We try to communicate our conceptual contents and designed spatial constellations to ourselves and others using a narrative visual language.
The resulting representations reflect the cosmos of our working and thinking methodology to the inside as well as the outside. They should speak of the joy of searching for the best possible architectural solution.