Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative 2016, Simon Kretz Architect, Designer News
Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative 2016 News
Sir David Chipperfield selects Swiss architect Simon Kretz: Architecture + Visual Arts News
24 + 23 May 2016
Sir David Chipperfield has chosen Swiss architect Simon Kretz as his protégé in the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative
Sir David Chipperfield Chooses Swiss Architect As Protégé In Rolex Mentoring Programme
Sir David Chipperfield has chosen Swiss architect Simon Kretz as his protégé in the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative for 2016–2017.
Sir David Chipperfield with Swiss architect Simon Kretz:
Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, 2016
Geneva, 23 May 2016 – Kretz said he was “overjoyed” to be selected and expects that Sir David will profoundly influence his understanding of the methodologies of architecture. “Only an experienced mentor like David Chipperfield can take me to the next level of design thinking,” he added.
The Rolex Arts Initiative is a philanthropic programme that pairs emerging artists with masters in their field for a year-long collaboration.
Sir David selected Kretz, the first Swiss protégé, from three finalists, including one from Colombia and one from Spain. They were singled out by a nominating panel comprised of architectural experts who scoured the world for the most likely candidates, talented young architects who have begun to make a name for themselves in their own country and beyond, and who would benefit from working with a world-renowned architect.
Kretz was recognized for his ability to design in a multitude of scales, in particular projects that enhance the urban environment, an interest he shares with his mentor.
photograph © Ingrid Von Kruse
He co-founded the architectural firm Christina Nater und Simon Kretz Architekten GmbH in Zurich, in 2010 and, in 2014, became a founding partner of Christian Salewski & Simon Kretz Architekten GmbH. Kretz gained experience at architectural firms in Zurich and at several internationally renowned firms, including OMA Rotterdam. He is currently Senior Lecturer for Urban Design at ETH Zurich’s (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) Department of Architecture, a position he has held since 2013.
Also since 2013, he has been Senior Lecturer at ETH Zurich’s Department of Engineering, as well as Lecturer for Design Thinking at the University of Zurich’s Center for Urban and Real Estate Management (CUREM).
Simon Kretz architect:
Sir David, who served as Curator of the International Architecture Exhibition in 2012, became a mentor with the Initiative because, he said: “At school and at university I was lucky to have been encouraged by teachers that I had great respect for and who took a real interest in the progress of their students. Without such encouragement perhaps I would not have challenged myself or had the confidence to imagine or dream.”
Architects who have comprised the mentor-protégé pairs in the Rolex Arts Initiative are: Álvaro Siza and Sahel Al-Hiyari, Kazuyo Sejima and Yang Zhao, and Peter Zumthor and Gloria Cabral.
Sir David Chipperfield Architect
Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative – Background
About The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative
The Rolex Arts Initiative is a biennial philanthropic programme created by Rolex to ensure that the world’s artistic heritage is passed on from generation to generation, across continents and cultures. Since its launch in 2002, the Initiative has built a remarkable artistic community that connects artists around the globe. Some of the world’s most distinguished artists have served as mentors.
They are: Margaret Atwood, John Baldessari, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Trisha Brown, (the late) Patrice Chéreau, (the late) Sir Colin Davis, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Olafur Eliasson, Brian Eno, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, William Forsythe, Stephen Frears, Gilberto Gil, Sir Peter Hall, David Hockney, Rebecca Horn, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Sir Anish Kapoor, William Kentridge, Jiří Kylián, Lin Hwai-min, Toni Morrison, Walter Murch, Mira Nair, Youssou N’Dour, Jessye Norman, Michael Ondaatje, Alexei Ratmansky, Kaija Saariaho, Martin Scorsese, Kazuyo Sejima, Peter Sellars, Álvaro Siza, Wole Soyinka, Julie Taymor, Saburo Teshigawara, Jennifer Tipton, Kate Valk, Mario Vargas Llosa, Robert Wilson, Zhang Yimou, Pinchas Zukerman and Peter Zumthor.
ARCHITECTURE MENTOR
David Chipperfield, Architect
photo of architect © Martin Godwin
Driven by an approach to architecture that values “substance, permanence and meaning” above spectacle, and shuns a particular “house style”, British architect Sir David Chipperfieldhas gained renown for a diverse portfolio that spans civic and cultural buildings, houses, hotels and offices, as well as shop interiors, furniture, lighting and tableware. Chipperfield trained at the Kingston School of Art and London’s Architectural Association before beginning work for some of Britain’s leading architects. In 1985, he started his own practice and today employs more than 250 people in his London, Berlin, Milan and Shanghai offices where the focus is on providing architecturally, socially and intellectually coherent design solutions.
Among his notable buildings are numerous museums such as the River & Rowing Museum in the UK’s Henley-on-Thames, the Figge Art Museum in Iowa, the reconstructed Neues Museum in Berlin, where he is currently designing a new entry building to the city’s Museum Island, and the Museo Jumex in Mexico City. In 2011, the year he was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture, he completed two UK galleries, Turner Contemporary in Margate, which was recently chosen as one of the 21 landmarks that define Britain in the 21st century, and The Hepworth Wakefield in Yorkshire. Other ongoing projects include the Nobel Center in Stockholm, an expansion of the Kunsthaus Zürich in Switzerland and the restoration of the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin.
Chipperfield was recently selected to redesign the modern and contemporary art wing and adjacent areas of New York’s Metropolitan Museum and to reconfigure and renovate the Royal Academy of Arts in London. In 2012, he curated the Venice Architecture Biennale, the first British architect to serve as curator. Knighted in 2010 for his services to architecture in the UK and Germany, Chipperfield received the Praemium Imperiale prize in 2013 in recognition of a lifetime’s work. The much-honoured architect has taught worldwide, including at the Yale School of Architecture and the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Stuttgart.
ARCHITECTURE PROTÉGÉ
Simon Kretz, Architect
Swiss architect, urbanist and researcher, Simon Kretz is recognized for his ability to design in a multitude of scales – from the refurbishment of listed historical buildings to designing new houses and structures, and projects that enhance the urban environment. Combining his interests in mathematics, writing, physical work and drawing, Kretz studied architecture at ETH Zurich’s (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) Department of Architecture where he received a master’s degree in 2008.
The following year he co-founded the architectural firm Christina Nater und Simon Kretz Architekten GmbH, and, in 2014, became a founding partner of Christian Salewski & Simon Kretz Architekten GmbH. Kretz previously gained experience at architectural firms in Zurich and at several internationally renowned firms,including OMA Rotterdam.
He has been teaching at his alma mater since 2009 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer for Urban Design in 2013. Also since 2013, he has been Senior Lecturer at ETH Zurich’s Department of Engineering, as well as Lecturer for Design Thinking at the University of Zurich’s Center for Urban and Real Estate Management (CUREM). Kretz believes his work with Sir David Chipperfield will profoundly influence his understanding of the methodologies of architecture and urban design.
Further information about the Rolex Arts Initiative is available at rolexmentorprotege.com.
Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative images / information received 230516
Rolex Arts Initiative Names Seven Major Artists as Mentors
Gloria Cabral, protégée. Haldenstein, Switzerland, 2014:
photograph © ROLEX / MARC LATZEL
Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative 2014
Location: Switzerland, central Europe
Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative
Rolex Arts Initiative Names Seven Major Artists as Mentors
Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative 2013
Rolex Learning Center Lausanne
Design: SANAA
Rolex Learning Center Switzerland : main page with images
Rolex USA Headquarters in New York
Rolex Learning Center Building : further information
Swiss Architecture
Peter Zumthor, architect:
photograph : Gerry Ebner
David Chipperfield Architects – Form Matters
Architectural Designs
Contemporary Building Designs – recent architectural selection from e-architect below:
Photos for the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative page welcome