SITE VISIT IV: Berta Rahm Pavilion

A warm invitation to the fourth SITE VISIT! With a celebratory meal, we will visit the rescued pavilion of architect Berta Rahm.

SITE VISIT IV
Berta Rahm "The Feast", ETH Zurich, Campus Hönggerberg, Stefano- Franscini-Platz 5, 8049 Zurich
30.11.2021, 6:00 pm

Built for the National Exhibition for Women's Work SAFFA 58, it is thanks to the efforts and research of female architects and art historians of the Swiss National Science Foundation's research project that the pavilion was saved shortly before its destruction. It tells the story of a woman architect who had to assert herself against a difficult environment and founded a publishing house for feminist authors and themes. As a gift, we present visitors with a revised reprint of excerpts from Berta Rahm's diaries.

Berta Rahm: She was one of the first Swiss female architects to study at the ETH Zurich. Professionally, she designed and built single-family holiday homes and carried out numerous conversions; she also realised the aluminium-clad pavilion for Saffa 58. As a committed feminist, she represented Switzerland at the founding of the Union Internationale des Femmes Architectes in Paris in 1963. Although she took part in many competitions and won prizes, she never received a public commission. Throughout her life, as a single woman, she struggled to find a voice in architecture and eventually gave up her profession to found the publishing house Ala in Zurich, which specialised in feminist authors and issues.

About SITE VISIT: The new series of excursions and discussions extends NEXPO's research on living together in Switzerland in the 21st century. Rapid social change not only brings technological progress, but forces us to reflect on our built social environment. SITE VISIT is an attempt at a playful re-examination of spaces. We take the rescued pavilion as an occasion to think about our public life in the future.

About NEXPO: The initiative of the ten largest Swiss cities for a new national exhibition is called NEXPO - the new Expo, because it will take on a completely new form: it will be sustainable, future-oriented, decentralised and take place throughout Switzerland. It will not be an Expo on a defined and fenced-in site. It will connect cultural initiatives throughout Switzerland, in all language regions, in cities, agglomerations and in the countryside. It will build bridges between the centre and the periphery, form a nationwide network and create meeting places.