civil agent / shelter +

Immigration is without a doubt, the theme that still currently occupies the most space in the Swiss and European news and mass media. Arrivals, the political management of emergency, the closing and opening of borders, shelter and nationalism have enflamed a hot debate and raised doubts about some truths at the very foundation of western thinking.
Within this context, the realm of architecture is impacted on both practically and intellectually. As expressed in the series of projects related to the program the architect as civil agent, i2a takes the view that the figure of the architect must respond, through their actions and proposals, to a series of ethical and social questions about who is sheltered and who shelters.
The exhibition to be opened this evening is another rung in the program the architect as civil agent supported by Pro Helvetia in the frame of the Swiss Made in Russia cultural programme and is the outcome of the collective work of the Masters of Architecture students at the Hochschule Luzern and MARCH School of Architecture in Moscow. Following on from the school in Moscow project, shown at Villa Saroli in September, shelter + exhibits the student’s solutions for a shelter for asylum seekers in Lugano on the hypothetical site between the football stadium and the fire station. The high quality of work shown is a selection of projects presented by students for their final design critiques. The exhibition reflects the student’s capacity to fulfil the aim of the project and correctly interpret the “+” within the title, that is to realise a place of integration that creates synergy within the community. The proposals are particularly interesting and important in light of the fact that there currently does not exist a tested building typology of this kind and as such the exhibition can be considered the basis for discussion about ongoing research.

the architect as civil agent – swiss made in Russia
Switzerland is renown in the world for the importance it places on the value of civil society. As a continuation of the project the architect as civil agent, in the context of the cultural programme Swiss Made in Russia supported by Pro Helvetia, the students of the Master in Architecture of the Hochschule Luzern and those of MARCH School of Architecture in Moscow work collectively on projects that confront themes that give them possibility to react.
Thanks to their work as ‘civil agents’ Shelter +, the most recent theme, has seen the realization of projects for a shelter for asylum seekers in Lugano.