Not Disneyland

In his essays, art historian Stanislaus von Moos examines selected chapters of Swiss architecture and art in the 20th century. The focus is on the tension between aesthetic modernity and historicist reconstruction. Events such as the Landi 1939 in Zurich, the fire of the Chapel Bridge in Lucerne in 1995, and Expo.02 provide the framework. The reputation of Ticinese architecture since the 1970s and the later rise of Basel as Switzerland's architectural Athens are also topics of discussion. In light of the increasingly vocal demands of tourism, city marketing, and entertainment, these events emerge as a flickering laboratory of art, architecture, and urban design on the threshold of the 21st century. The essays alternately focus on artists like Max Bill or Pipilotti Rist, exploring their positions within the national context.