Agnès Laube

Architecture often has labels and symbols that provide information and orientation. Ideally, they underline the design idea and strengthen the reception of the building. In order to be able to design them in accordance with the design requirements, knowledge of both disciplines is required: architecture and graphics. The exhibition "Archigraphy - Writing on Buildings" uses successful works by twelve studios specializing in this interface to show how archigraphy can shape the design and identity of buildings.

Many people know the term "signage", but only a few know "archigraphy". Archigraphy is labeling on buildings, conspicuous and large-scale or small and fine. Due to their shape and style, however, they are more than just information added to the building; they shape its image and at the same time the public space and the urban environment. This raises many questions, such as where the graphic-constructive concept can be derived from: from the space, the material, a component or from the use? Or what language does the architecture speak? Do you work with it or do you deliberately (and skillfully) contrast it? You have to be able to read architecture and deal intensively with the materials, the construction forms, assembly issues and, last but not least, with the people for whom they are made.

The designer Agnès Laube and the architect Michael Widrig, both from Zurich, have been working on the subject of archigraphy for 20 years, both on a historical-theoretical, practical and communication level. In 2009 they showed the results of their ongoing research in an overview exhibition at the Architekturforum Zurich. In 2016 the publication "Archigrafie - Schrift am Bau" was published by Birkhäuser Verlag. Lectures followed, and both also brought the topic into teaching. Agnès Laube acted as a consultant for the 2019 exhibition "3D-Schrift am Bau" at the Museum für Gestaltung Zurich.

For the exhibition “Archigraphy – Writing in Construction”, Agnès Laube has now asked twelve design offices to present their work exclusively in the architecture forum “Die Raumgalerie”. The focus was on three-dimensional and/or materially special solutions. The majority of the studios come from Switzerland, where archigraphy has been booming for some time for various reasons. Two studios are also based in Stuttgart, one in Paris. The works on display represent various methodological approaches to how designers can react to a building. For example, the letter surfaces for a music school are made of wood that is used for instruments, or the fonts for a school for the blind have a special feel. Another project reacts to the strict architecture with fluffy letters that were produced using an experimental process. Two light sculptures are also among the projects. The show is intended to encourage experts to try new designs and approaches and to “open the eyes” of the wider public to the graphic layers on and in buildings.

Agnès Laube was born in Lengnau/Switzerland in 1964 and has lived in Zurich since 1984. From 1985 to 1989 she studied graphic design at the Zurich School of Design (now ZHdK). She has worked as a freelance designer since 1991 and as a lecturer since 2004. From 2011 to 2015 she headed the Master's degree program in design at the Bern University of the Arts. Since 2016 she has been working freelance again as a (visual) communicator with studios in Zurich and Stuttgart. She teaches the history of illustration at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Agnès Laube has lived in Stuttgart since 2018.

Opening: March 14, 2025, 6:30 p.m.