Ar­chi­tec­tu­ral com­pe­ti­ti­on

Sibylle Aubort Raderschall is the Managing Director and partner of the office of raderschallpartner ag landschaftsarchitekten, which has its head office in Meilen. She studied open space planning, landscaping and garden architecture at the University of Applied Sciences in Rapperswil and founded the landscaping office of Raderschall Landschaftsarchitekten together with Roland Raderschall in 1990. She was a visiting professor in the Architecture department of EPFL Lausanne from 2002–2003. She has spent the past 25 years actively involved in the competition system in Switzerland, was a member and part of the executive committee of the competition commissions of BSLA and SIA for many years and in her capacity as juror, she represents the landscape architecture view in various proceedings. Picture © raderschallpartner

Elisabeth Boesch has been running an architectural firm in Zurich with Martin Boesch since 1982. The focus of their joint work is on design and construction work on existing buildings, at different scales, frequently for cultural and public uses. She is a member of the Nature and Homeland Conservation Commission (Natur- und Heimatschutzkommission) of the Canton of Zurich, of city planning committees in Switzerland and Germany (Lübeck) and a regular juror in competitions in the areas of architecture and urban development, the preservation of historical monuments, critical reconstruction and construction work on existing buildings. Picture © Dominic Steinmann

Tina Gregorič has been with the Vienna University of Technology since 2014, where she works as professor and head of the Section of Building Theory. She is architect and head of the Ljubljana-based Studio Dekleva Gregorič Architects, which she founded in 2003 together with Aljoša Dekleva. Her award-winning international projects include several sites in the EU and the US, and run the gamut of social residential buildings, a university campus and a museum up to and including a national pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Picture © Miran Kambic

Jean-Daniel Gross has been the Head of the Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments of the City of Bern since 2007. Prior to that, he had worked at architectural firms in Zurich and Germany, after which he joined the team of construction consultants of the Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments of the City of Zurich. Among other things, he works as a lecturer at the Chair for Art History of the University of Bern, is a member of the Berne Cathedral Foundation, the Cathedral Building Council of the Foundation for the Preservation of Historical Monuments in Bern (Münster-Baukollegium der Berner Denkmalpflege-Stiftung) and the Urban Planning Committee (Stadtbildkommission) of the City of Bern. Jean-Daniel Gross studied architecture at ETH Zurich, where he graduated in 1996 and later earned his MAS degree at the Chair for the Preservation of Historical Monuments and Construction Research. In 2006, he earned his doctorate at ETH Zurich with a dissertation on the history of the preservation of historical monuments.

Thomas Hasler, Architect ETH BSA SIA, is the managing director and partner of Staufer & Hasler Architekten in Frauenfeld. The office stands for solid, high-quality construction projects that always take the immediate vicinity into consideration. Its most prominent buildings include the cantonal school in Wil, the media and administration building in Chur and the Federal Administrative Court in St. Gallen. The office was presented with the Prix Meret Oppenheim in 2015. As a technical expert and member of the jury, Thomas Hasler has already assisted with a large number of architectural competitions, studies and test planning projects. He has a full professorship at the Institute of Architecture and Design of TU Wien.

Anna Jessen studied at ETH Zurich and attended Harvard University in Boston. She then worked at Diener & Diener in Basel. In 1999, she founded the jessenvollenweider architect’s office together with Ingemar Vollenweider. From 2011-2017, she worked as a professor of design and interior design at TU Darmstadt. In 2016, she began designing the new ArchitekturWerkstatt OST St.Gallen, where she still teaches today. In 2018, Anna Jessen and Ingemar Vollenweider took over the Chair of Urban Design at TU Dortmund. Picture © Nina Mann

Boris Podrecca grew up in Triest and currently lives in Vienna and Venice, the influences of which can be seen in the buildings and squares he has designed in eight different European countries. He has been a visiting professor in Lausanne, London, Paris, Venice, Vienna and at Harvard University in Boston-Cambridge, among other places, and was a full professor and director of the Institute for Interior Design and Design at the University of Stuttgart from 1988 onward. He was awarded numerous honours, including the title of doctor honoris causa from the universities in Maribor and Belgrade; he was also named an honorary member by three academies of sciences and arts and by the Association of German Architects.

Annabelle Selldorf is the Principal of Selldorf Architects, a 70-person architectural design practice that she founded in New York City in 1988. The firm creates public and private spaces that manifest a clear and modern sensibility to enduring impact. Selldorf Architects has worked on public and private projects that range from museums and libraries to a recycling facility; and at scales from the construction of new buildings to the restoration of historic interiors and exhibition design. Picture © Harry Mitchell

Peter Zumthor is an architect of international renown. In his studio with around three dozen employees in Haldenstein, Switzerland, he designs original architectonic structures such as Kunsthaus Bregenz, the Thermal Baths in Vals, the Kolumba Museum in Cologne and the Steilneset Memorial in Vardø. Picture © Keystone SDA

Alfons Bichsel has been a Member of the Cantonal Parliament of the Canton of Bern since 2020 and is a member of the Committee on Education and Culture. He previously served on the City Council of the Municipality of Sigriswil from 2010–2016 and was in charge of the Department of Education, Culture and Sport. In his capacity as a member of the City Council, he headed up the Department of Infrastructure from 2020 onward. His professional experience at RUAG spanned the range from technical maintenance to quality management to managing large-scale projects after completion of his certified training programme through the IPMA (International Project Management Association). Since he was a child, Afrons Bichsel has felt a close connection to the world of art through the art studio of his grandfather, Fritz Goppelsroder.

Jonathan Gimmel has served as President of the Kunstmuseum Bern – Zentrum Paul Klee umbrella foundation since 2019. From 2007 until the umbrella foundation was established in 2015, he was a member and Vice- President of the Foundation of the Kunstmuseum Bern, where he repre- sented the regional conference in his capacity as a member of the City Council of Worb. Jonathan Gimmel also holds several positions of leader- ship in a variety of different institutions. As an economist (EMBA with a focus on public leadership), his professional responsibilities include the resources of the mayor’s office and the digital strategy of the City of Bern. Picture © Micha Riechsteiner

Marieke Kruit has served on the Executive Council of the City of Bern since 2021 and heads up the Directorate of Civil Engineering, Transport and Green Spaces. Prior to her election, she held positions of leadership at the psychiatric services of the regional hospitals of Thun and Oberaargau and, before that, at regional radio stations and a regional TV station. Marieke Kruit has a licentiate in psychology and psychotherapy. Picture © Béatrice Devènes

Benjamin Marti has been a Member of the Cantonal Parliament of the Canton of Bern since 2022. Since 2017, he has held a full-time position as Mayor of Belp, a conurbation municipality of Bern. At the regional conference of Bern-Mittelland, he chairs the Committee for Culture. On the side, he is also involved with the authorities of the Siloah Group in Gümligen. Benjamin Marti’s first education was a diploma as master agriculturalist. Following 17 years as a self-employed farmer, he then attended an occupational re-training for a degree as a Business Economist HF.

Alec von Graffenried was elected Mayor of Bern in 2017. From 2000-2007 he served as a government official of the administrative district of Bern and then as director of the Losinger Marazzzi AG construction company. He also represented the Green Free List on the National Council from 2007-2015. Alec von Graffenried studied law at the University of Bern. As Section President, he is actively involved both in the New Helvetic Society and in the European movement.

Alex Wassmer is the owner, Chairman and Delegate of the Board of Directors of KIBAG Holding AG, a Swiss leader in the areas of construction materials, construction services, environmental issues and waste disposal with more than 2,000 employees. From 2002 to 2020, he served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Kunsthalle Bern Foundation and has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Kunstmuseum Bern – Zentrum Paul Klee umbrella foundation since 2015. Alex Wassmer holds a degree in law from the University of Bern.

Hansjörg Wyss is a philanthropist dedicated to helping save the world’s last remaining wild places, to encouraging breakthroughs in medicine and science, and to protecting and empowering the most vulnerable in society. He launched the Wyss Foundation and established the Wyss Academy in Bern, the Wyss Center in Geneva, the Wyss Zurich Translational Center, and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. Hansjörg Wyss has committed to giving at least half his wealth to charitable causes.

Nina Zimmer has served as the Director of the Kunstmuseum Bern and Zentrum Paul Klee since 2016. Previously, she had been the curator for 19th Century / Classical Modernism collections at Kunstmuseum Basel, where she also served as its Vice-Director starting in 2014 and played an active role in the construction of an extension to Kunstmuseum Basel. Nina Zimmer studied art history, Romance studies and media science in Bordeaux and Göttingen. She was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago in 2002 and at the Korean National University of Art in Seoul, South Korea, in 2005. In 2013, she became the first European graduate of the CCL (Center for Curatorial Leadership) in collaboration with Columbia Business School in New York and the Getty Leadership Institute in Los Angeles. Picure Monika Flückiger © Kunstmuseum Bern