Trix + Robert Haussmann

Trix and Robert Haussmann may be counted among the most important Swiss architects of the twentieth century. They have realized about 650 projects in their lifetime including the legendary Da Capo Bar, Shopville in Zurich’s main railway station, the boutique Weinberg, the famous Kronenhallenbar and numerous successful experiments in artistic and handcrafted furniture. The so-called Lehrstück II (1978) and the mirrored Lounge Seating (Knoll International, 1988) rank amongst the most important icons of post-modern Swiss design. The couple brought forth works breaking with the dogmas of entrenched architectural practices. In addition to designing buildings and furniture, they have developed a rich theoretical œuvre. To this day, Trix and Robert Haussmann continue to work on their complex body of work.

The dedicated and thoughtful challenging of aesthetic conventions of Trix and Robert Haussmann was ahead of its time and deserves to be rediscovered today. There has been a revival of European interest in the work of Trix and Robert Haussmann over the past four years, initiated by their inclusion in the V&A Museum’s 2011–12 show Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970–1990, which took place not only in London but also in Zurich. In Switzerland, art spaces have championed the Haussmanns’ oeuvre since then: Fredi Fischli and Niels Olsen of Studiolo staged the exhibition Log-O-Rythmic Slide-Rule (2012) which led to a publication they edited for Patrick Frey (2012) and to another Haussmann show at Hard Hat in Geneva (2013). After a presentation at Fri Art in Fribourg in 2014, a major exhibition on the duo took place at the Austrian Kunsthaus Bregenz in 2015.

In 2013, the Swiss Federal Office of Culture awarded Trix and Robert Haussmann the Grand Prix Design.

Submitted by MANIERA