Stanislaus von Moos: Le Corbusier and Schellen-Ursli - přednáška v Galerii VI PER
History, Theory and Criticism in Architecture
Galerie VI PER Vás invites you to a lecture by Stanislause von Moose as part of the lecture series History, Theory and Criticism in Architecture.
At the end of summer 1945, just a few weeks after the end of the Second World War, a group of French intellectuals and artists embarked on a short trip to Switzerland, which included the Engadine. Among the group were Le Corbusier and painter Jean Dubuffet. During their visit to Guarda, a small mountain village and a famous showcase of recent efforts by Swiss Heimatschutz, they got into a dispute with architect Jachen Könz, who was behind its restoration.
We can only speculate about the arguments exchanged during the quarrel; however, we know that both Le Corbusier and Dubuffet regarded folk architecture and folk art as key themes, especially in those turbulent years. The incident itself left no mark in history (aside from Kohn's later claim that Le Corbusier's funnel-shaped windows of the chapel in Ronchamp were inspired by the houses he saw in the Engadine). However, a children's book titled Schellenursli, written by Selina Künz, Jachen Künz's wife, managed to make Guarda almost a universal synonym for simple life in a remote mountain valley. At least that was what Walt Disney sought to achieve when – inspired by the book Schellenursli – he sent a film crew to Guarda to canonize this village idyll as the heart of Switzerland, and even Europe (1952). The film was a massive flop, but the recycling of folk culture for either high architecture or mass tourism remains a part of our cultural environment.
Stanislaus von Moos is an art historian and emeritus professor of modern art at the University of Zurich (1982–2005) and founding editor of the journal Archithese (1971–1976). In addition to his doctoral dissertation (Turm und Bollwerk, 1976) and the book Le Corbusier: Elements of a Synthesis (1968), he has published works on Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown et al. (vol. 1, 1987; vol. 2, 1999) as well as on artists and architects like Karl Moser, Max Bill, Thomas Hirschhorn, Peter Fischli / David Weiss. He has curated significant exhibitions and lectured and taught throughout Europe and overseas. His most recent books include Eyes That Saw: Architecture After Las Vegas (ed., together with Martin Stierli, 2020), Erste Hilfe: Architekturdiskurs nach 1940 (2021), and Twentyfive × Herzog & de Meuron (together with Arthur Rüegg, 2025). In 2023, he was awarded the Grand Prix Meret Oppenheim by the Swiss Federal Office of Culture.
At the end of summer 1945, just a few weeks after the end of the Second World War, a group of French intellectuals and artists embarked on a short trip to Switzerland, which included the Engadine. Among the group were Le Corbusier and painter Jean Dubuffet. During their visit to Guarda, a small mountain village and a famous showcase of recent efforts by Swiss Heimatschutz, they got into a dispute with architect Jachen Könz, who was behind its restoration.
We can only speculate about the arguments exchanged during the quarrel; however, we know that both Le Corbusier and Dubuffet regarded folk architecture and folk art as key themes, especially in those turbulent years. The incident itself left no mark in history (aside from Kohn's later claim that Le Corbusier's funnel-shaped windows of the chapel in Ronchamp were inspired by the houses he saw in the Engadine). However, a children's book titled Schellenursli, written by Selina Künz, Jachen Künz's wife, managed to make Guarda almost a universal synonym for simple life in a remote mountain valley. At least that was what Walt Disney sought to achieve when – inspired by the book Schellenursli – he sent a film crew to Guarda to canonize this village idyll as the heart of Switzerland, and even Europe (1952). The film was a massive flop, but the recycling of folk culture for either high architecture or mass tourism remains a part of our cultural environment.
Stanislaus von Moos is an art historian and emeritus professor of modern art at the University of Zurich (1982–2005) and founding editor of the journal Archithese (1971–1976). In addition to his doctoral dissertation (Turm und Bollwerk, 1976) and the book Le Corbusier: Elements of a Synthesis (1968), he has published works on Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown et al. (vol. 1, 1987; vol. 2, 1999) as well as on artists and architects like Karl Moser, Max Bill, Thomas Hirschhorn, Peter Fischli / David Weiss. He has curated significant exhibitions and lectured and taught throughout Europe and overseas. His most recent books include Eyes That Saw: Architecture After Las Vegas (ed., together with Martin Stierli, 2020), Erste Hilfe: Architekturdiskurs nach 1940 (2021), and Twentyfive × Herzog & de Meuron (together with Arthur Rüegg, 2025). In 2023, he was awarded the Grand Prix Meret Oppenheim by the Swiss Federal Office of Culture.
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