BIG's first edition by BUREAU A

BIG is the new Biennale for independent art spaces in Geneva. For its first edition BUREAU A was commissioned to design an open air venue for the event named Steelhenge for its similar appearance to the Neolithic monument.

BIG por BUREAU A. Fotografía © Dylan Perrenoud.

Built with 50 shipping container, BUREAU A bases the settlement on the archeological plan of the Neolithic monument of Stonehenge, creating a large circular common space. During 4 days, independent artists, editors, musicians, dancers, etc. gathered by the Biennale for independent art spaces in Geneva (BIG) and occupied the containers for a long lasting summer party.

Description of the project by BUREAU A

In response to the cultural actors' need for seeing the birth of a great unifying event, BIG highlights the artistic wealth of the independent and alternative cultural scene of Geneva. Therefore, it intends to fill the gap left by the abandonment of the Manifestation of Contemporary Art (MAC) and wishes to become a perennial and inevitable artistic event. As a reminder, in 2006 the Department of Culture of the City of Geneva created the MAC in order to invite an audience for a weekend to discover or rediscover the wealth of the wide cultural offer in the field of contemporary art in Geneva. The event was repeated in 2009 and opened to many independent spaces. In 2011, a greater collaboration between independent spaces allowed the appearance of original projects, including La Cité des Bars. The latter one was an unprecedented success and is present as a model of successful artistic profusion.

When the abandonment of the MAC was announced, the independent spaces were organized and saw the need to create a new form of self-display. The Department of Culture was committed to support this ambitious cultural event called BIG. Steelhenge is a unifying event, promoter of the alternative independent and local creative scene.

CREDITS. DATA SHEET.-

Archietcts.- BUREAU A.
Location.- Geneve.
Datess.- from June 26th to 28th, 2015.

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BIG por BUREAU A. Fotografía © Dylan Perrenoud. Señala encima de la imagen para verla más grande.

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More information

Leopold Banchini y Daniel Zamarbide. BUREAU A

BUREAU A. Founded in 2012 by the association of Leopold Banchini and Daniel Zamarbide. Architects by training BUREAU A is a multidisciplinary platform aiming to blur the boundaries of research and project making on architectural related subjects, whichever their nature and status.

Leopold Banchini

Leopold Banchini was born in Geneva in 1981 and is an architect graduated from the EPFL (Ecole Polytechinique Fédérale de Lausanne). He is also Master in Architecture from the University of Lausanne (2007) and graduate of the Glasgow School of Art (2004).

Is a visiting professor in the HEAD (Haute Ecole de Design et) in Geneva since 2010 and Assistant Professor at the EPFL since 2009. He has also been Archozoom project designer in 2009.

Has been placed in Lot / ek Architects (New York) between the years 2004/2005, as an assistant project Art Basel (Basel) in 2005, and as a project partner of the collective Atelier Van Lieshout (AVL) that same year in Rotterdam.

He has developed his work as an architect in b720 Arquitectos (Barcelona) during the years 2007 and 2008, and Group8 Architects (Geneva) in 2009.

In addition, since 2008 part of 1to100 Architects, and architectural collective based in Geneva. Its members have been active and decisive parts in projects such as the winning participation of Bahrain at the last Venice Biennale - RECLAIM Golden Lion 2011, exhibitions such as The Gulf - OMA-AMO's participation at the Venice Biennale 2007 and publications such as AMO-Rem Koolhaas's Al Manakh. Parallel to that, they conduce many different operations ranging from architecture, to journalism, until urban design. They have teaching positions at the EPFL and the University of Arts and Design in Geneva.

Its aim is to take position and initiate reflexions upon our contemporary environment.

Daniel Zamarbide. BUREAU

BUREAU, is the new project by Daniel Zamarbide. The practice hides under its generic name a variety of research activities. BUREAU makes things as an urge to react to the surrounding physical, cultural and social environment with a critical standpoint and with an immersive attitude. BUREAU is (in 2017) a furniture series, an editorial project, a design team, they are architects.

Daniel Zamarbide obtains his master degree at the Institut d’Architecture de l’Université de Genève (IAUG) in 1999. During his studies he followed the workshops of Christian Marclay, Philippe Parreno and Catherine Queloz at the École Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Geneva.

In the year 2000 he becomes one of the founding members of group8, an architectural practice that has acquired an important national and international recognition.

Daniel Zamarbide has developed through the years a particular interest in the protean aspects of his discipline and nourishes his work and research through other domains like philosophy, applied and visual arts as well as cinema.

As a guest lecturer and jury he has been invited at a diversity of international schools and institutions to present and discuss his work and research.

Since 2003 his interest in research and education has led him to be invited as an assistant in the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and as a professor (2000-14) at the Haute École d’Art et de Design (HEAD) in Geneva. In 2014, he integrates the team of ALICE Lab (Dieter Dietz) at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) as a guest professor and research director.

In 2012, Daniel leaves group8 to start a new practice with Leopold Banchini, architect. Their practice, BUREAU A has explored during 5 years the possibilities of architectural making in a great variety of formats, opening the practice to work in the fields of art, garden and landscape architecture, exhibition design, temporary architecture and object making.

In 2017, following the dissolution of BUREAU A, Daniel Zamarbide pursues his more personal research interests under the name of BUREAU. This new entity produces architecture in the continuity of BUREAU A and incorporates to his already prolific activities furniture design (with a design brand of the same name) and an editorial project, which launches the first publication in June 2017.