Nele Dechmann

Duplex Architects, founded in 2007 in Zurich, have built an excellent reputation for their buildings of various scales and their wide range of typologies. Since 2011, they have operated not only from their headquarters but also from branches Studio Duplex in Düsseldorf and Hamburg, and since 2020, the office Duplex Architectes in Paris. With this first monograph on their work in Germany and Switzerland, Duplex Architects provide a direct insight into their approach to residential construction. Five projects in Switzerland, richly illustrated with images, plans, and visualizations, showcase their stance on urban planning, typological research, and materiality, demonstrating their highly independent working method. The urban scale, the search for new forms of housing, the importance of community, and the collaborative design process are central to Duplex Architects' considerations in this field. Nele Dechmann's text and Ludovic Balland's photo essay illuminate the work of Duplex Architects in their own unique ways. In addition to the two founding partners, Anne Kaestle and Dan Schürch, a number of other contributors also share their personal perspectives on these five buildings.