ARCHITECT : BERNARD TSHUMI

NATIONALITY : FRENCH AND SWISS

 LIFE AND TIME

BORN: LAUSANNE,SWITZERLAND,1944

FAMILY: BERNARD TSHUMI SPENT HALF OF HIS CHILDHOOD IN

LAUSANNE SWITERZLAND AND HALF IN PARIS,FRANCE
IT WAS DUE TO THE FACT THAT HIS FATHER WAS SWISS
AND MOTHER WAS FRENCH.
HIS FATHER STUIDED ARCHITECTURE IN PARIS, AND AT THE
END OF W.W-II HE SET UP THE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE OF
THE ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE IN LAUSANNE
BECAUSE TSHUMI SPENT SO MUCH TIME IN BOTH LAUSANNE
AND PARIS,HE FELT THAT HE WAS NOT LIMITED TO HAVING
ONLY ONE NATIONALITY.AS AN ADULT HE ENJOYED LIVING
IN NEW YORK BECAUSE HE FELT THERE WAS NO SUCH THING
AS “NATIONALITY” THERE.
EDUCATION : STUIDED IN PARIS AND AT THE FEDRAL INSTITUTE
OF TECHNOLOGY(ETH)IN ZURICH,SWITZERLAND FROM
WHICH HE RECIVED HIS DEGREE IN 1969.
PROFESSION: MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS
IN FRANCE,
LICENCED TO PRACTISE IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK
AND THROUGHOUT EUROPE.
HE IS PRINCIPAL OF BERNARD TSCHUMI ARCHITECTS,
NEW YORK AND PARIS.
INFLUENCES: INFLUENCED BY THE INTERNATIONAL SITUATIONIST IN
THE LATE 1960’s QUITE INFLUENCED BY ELECTRONICS
AND THUS DESIGNED GLASS VIDEO GALLERY,
GRONINGEN.
 PHILOSOPHY

ARCHITECTURAL/THEORIES/STYLES/PRINCIPALS/
IDEAS/CONCEPTS/BELIEFS
HE WISHES TO DESIGN CONDITIONS WHICH FORCES US TO
DEVLOP NEW KINDS OF SOCITIES.
WANTS HIS CITIES TO BE NONHIERARCHICAL IN FORM,NON-
TRADITIONAL IN THERE VALUES.
INTERNATIONAL SITUATIONIST IN THE LATE 1960’s LED HIM
TO BELIEVE THAT EVENTS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN
FUNCTIONS.FOR HIM AN EVENT IS NEVER FIXED.
WORKED ON GEOMETRIC FORMS AND THUS HIS PRIMARY
CONCERN WAS THEIR PURITY.
HE FELT THAT WHEN THE REAL AND THE VIRTUAL WORLDS
COME TOGETHER,TENSION IS CREATED AND THE POTENTIAL
FOR DESIGN BEGINS
TSCHUMI’S FIRST PROJECTS, “RITUALS”,EXPLODE THE
RELATIONS BETWEEN SPACES,MOVEMENT,AND ACTION.
HIS SECOND PROJECT, TYPE DRAWS ON HIS FIRST WORKS WITH
MOVEMENT.HE USES A RANDOMLY CURVED VECTOR CROSSING
THROUGH A GRID;A VECTOR AS A LANDSCAPE,VECTOR AS
INFRASTRUCTURE AND VECTORS THAT GO AGAINST
“NORMATIVE CONTENTS”.
HIS THIRD WORKS, VOIDS AND SOLIDS,EXPLORE THE
ARCHITECTURAL DEVICE OF CARVING INTO SOLIDS ENCOURAGE
ACTIVATION OF THE VOID CREATED.
FIFTY PROJECT TYPE IS “THE ENVELOPE”.IT IS THE COMMON
DENOMINATOR OF ALL ARCHITECTURE,THE ENCLOSURE.
 FAMOUS QUOTES

“ARCHITECTS WILL BEGIN TO DO A LOT OF WORK IN TERMS OF

BUILDING TECHNOLOGY.THIS IS SOMETHING I REFER TO GLUE
AND MICROCHIPS. THESE TWO THINGS WILL HAVE FAR MORE
IMPACT THAN ANTHING ABOUT FORM I THINK IT IS HERE THAT A
FACINATION EXITS,AND I THINK WE ARE IN A VERY EXCITING
PERIOD.I THINK THAT IN THESE WAYS ARCHITECTURE IS STILL A
YOUNG DISCIPLINE,WITH A LONG WAY TO GO.”
 CONTRIBUTIONS AND ACHIEVMENTS:

AWARDS:
FRANCE’S GRAND PRIX NATIONAL d’ARCHITECTURE,1996.
ENGLAND’S ROYAL VICTORIA MEDAL.
AWARDS FROM AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS.
NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR ARTS.

PUBLICATIONS:
RESEARCH CALLED THE “SCREENPLAYS” OR THE “MANHATTAN
TRANSCRIPTS” IN WHICH HE WAS EXPERIMENTING WITH
MOVEMENT,EVENTS,AND THE SYSTEM OF POINTS,LINES AND
SURFACES.
HE TAUGHT AT THE ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION IN LONDON(1970$
1979),THE INSTITUTE FOR ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN STUDIES IN NEW
YORK (1976),PRINCETON UNIVERSITY (1976 $1980) AND THE COOPER
UNION (1981-83).
SINCE 1988 HE HAS BEEN THE DEAN OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF
ARCHITECTURE,PLANNING AND PRESERVATION AT COLUMBIA
UNIVERSITY IN NEW YORK.
TSHUMI IS A MEMBER OF THE COLLEGE INTERNATIONAL de PHILOSPHIE.
HE IS THE RECEIPIENT OF DISTINGUISHED HONOURS LIKE”CHEVALIER IN
THE LEGION D HONNEUR” AND OFFICER IN THE ORDRE des ARTS et
LETTERS IN FRANCE.
 WORKS
PARC DE LA VILLETTE,PARIS
TEN METER CUBE
RED PAINTED
FORMED OF SMALLER CUBES 3 X 3 IN EACH OF 3 DIMENSIONS
LAID AT THE INTERSECTION OF 120 M GRID,8 SQURES FROM N-S AND 5
FROM E-W.
HUGE SQUARE,CIRCLE AND TRIANGLE TO WHICH LANDSCAPE IS LAID
MULTIPLICITY OF PATHS AND WALKWAYS.
 Plan of Parc de la Villette, showing the
spatial composition of water, vegetation,
paving, planting and structures

Plan of Parc de la Villette with the

reflection of a tree, and some
problems distinguishing water from
grass
 Serpentine path

Diagram of Parc de la Villette, to

show how it was conceived as
Lines, Points and Surfaces
KANSAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

STARTED IN 1988
USE OF THE BANDS LAID IN SERIES,LAID
BEHIND EACH OTHER.MASIVELY LONG WINGS
(ONE MILE IN LENGTH)-TO EITHER SIDE OF
CENTRAL FACILITIES CONTAINING A BAND OF ARRIVAL AND
DEPARTURE GATES.
FOUR STOREY ‘SLAB’ CONTAING HOTEL BEDROOMS,OFFICES AND SO
ON;
12 M WIDE BLOCK, THE ‘WAVE’-CINEMAS,EXHIBITION
SPACES,SWIMMING POOLS,GOLF COURSES,SHOOTING GALLERIES AND
SO ON.
KYOTO RAILWAY STATION,KYOTO
STARTED IN 1990’S
SKYFRAME(250 M LONG),LONG
CANTILEVERED SPACE AND SLENDER
GLASS TOWERS(SEVEN GATES)WAS TO
GIVE KYOTO A NEW HETRO GENEOUS SIGN,TO BE SUPERIMPOSED
ON THE TEMPLE LANDSCAPE WITHOUT OBLITERATING IT.
OPEN FRAME WORK.
SEVEN GLASS TOWERS 15 X 5.4 M SLABS,62-83 M HIGH WITH ULTRA FAST
ELEVATORS AND CONTAIN VIDEO VIEWING ROOMS,VIDEO BARS,SKY
LO0UNGES,MUSEUM DISPLAYS,SMALL RESTURANTS,PRIVATE DINNING
ROOMS,KINONO EXHIBITION SPACES,WEDDING WAITING ROOMS
EXERCISE AND WEIGHT LIFTING SPACES,SMALL AMUSEMENT HALLS
AND IN THEIR UPPER REACHES AVIARIES,TEAHOUSES,BANNER
DISPLAYS AND OBSERVATORIES.
OVER 2000 CAR PARKING AREA
 GLASS VIDEO GALLERY,GRONINGEN
DESINGED IN 1990
DESIGNED FOR SPECIAL ENVIROMENT FOR VIEWING POP
MUSIC VIDEO CLIPS
WAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO CHALLENGE PRE CONCEIVED
IDEAS ABOUT TELEVISION VIEWING AND ABOUT PRIVACY.
AREA:3.6 X 2.6 M
TILTED,INCLING,TRANSPARENT GLASS STRUCTURE,CONTAING A SERIES
OF INTERLOCKING SPACES DEFINED ONLY BY A LABYRINTH OF
STRUCTURAL GLASS ‘FINS’ AND BY THE POINTS OF METAL CLIP
CONNECTIONS.
ISOLATED IN THIS LABYRINTH ARE SIX BANKS OF VIDEO OBJECTS ON
DISPLAY AND OBJECTS FOR DISPLAYING.
 CHRONOLOGY

Parc de la Villette, Paris, France (1983-98)

Alfred Lerner Hall, Columbia University, New York, New York (1999)
Cejas School of Architecture, Florida International University, Miami, Florida
(2004)
Vacheron Constantin Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland (2004)
Lindner Athletic Center, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio (2006)
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
 FREE SPRITS IN ARCHITECTURE- GEOFFREY BROADBENT
 HISTORY OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE.

WEBLIOGRAPHY
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