Valerio Olgiati understands his role as an architect who thinks and creates space. His architecture is cultural and not political. In his office and in his teaching he operates independently. He is interested in a non-contextual architecture that emerges from itself. He considers experience of space as the basis to form a contemporary architecture.
His current projects are a headquarter building in Basel, a winery in Tuscany, a flagship store in Miami, an UNESCO World Heritage Site in Bahrain, a cableway in the Swiss alps and several private houses.
After graduating from ETH in 1986 he lived and worked first in Los Angeles for some years and later in Switzerland. He has taught at various universities, such as ETH Zurich, AA London and Harvard. Today he is a professor at the Accademia di architettura in Mendrisio at the University of Lugano. Since 2008 he runs the office together with his wife Tamara in Flims. Both currently live mainly in Portugal.
