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r Mrs Schwartz, tell us whether there has been that “wow effect”, that one pro- r In which projects were you allowed to participate during your long, one-year
ject that was decisive for your wish to try everything to be allowed to do an in- internship and what were your tasks?
ternship at Buchner Bründler Architekten? I had the chance to work in quite different fields and was not tied to just one project.
There have in fact even been two “wow effects” which caused me to focus on this I was thus able to gather very extensive impressions. I started with a project in Wä-
specific architectural office. The first time was when I saw the St Alban youth hostel denswil. This is where Buchner Bründler are currently planning ten studio buildings
in Basel right at the beginning of my studies. The minimalist, consistent use of ma- in a collectively used development with a view of Lake Zurich. The special feature of
terials and the deliberate composition of the components of the design had comple- this project is that the office was not commissioned to plan the studio buildings but
tely fascinated me. The second time was when I came across the publication about markets and sells them itself. I created the visualizations for the sale and worked on
the Kirschgarten residence in Binningen.Above all, however, the office represents an the sales brochure and the website where the pictures were published. I furthermore
architectural approach. And this was for me the decisive reason of really wanting to gained insights into the construction documentation of the project and also took part
work in this Swiss architectural office. in the internal and external meetings as a member of the team. During the last
months, I finally switched to competitions and, in just a small team, worked on two
r Please grant us an insight into the work atmosphere of the office. How is work exciting competitions here in Switzerland.
being done at Utengasse 19?
The office at Utengasse extends over two floors. The respective project teams are dis- r Which important experiences are you taking home from your internship?
tributed across these levels. During my internship, there were five to seven teams of Looking back, what was significant for me was above all the cooperation in the
different sizes which were supervised by one of the four associates and one of the team. It was very instructive to see how these architects are working. I quickly be-
two partners, Daniel Buchner and Andreas Bründler. Due to new competitions, stu- came aware that the office spends a lot of time on the projects and likes to experi-
dies or changes during the phases of the projects, fluctuations within the teams are ment. Instead of resorting to conventional solutions, there is testing and deliberating
bound to occur every now and then. A total of approximately 30 employees are wor- until the result reflects the character of the project. The mentality of “thinking out of
king at Buchner Bündler, 5 to 7 of them being trainees. In my experience, the hierar- the box” is definitely something I took with me from my time at Buchner Bründler.
chy in the office and in the project teams is very flat. The employees are surprisingly In addition, I developed a higher awareness of materials during my internship. Of
young. It is important to the office to include everyone and to let a team feeling de- course, this is also a topic in my studies of architecture. In the office, however, the
velop. This contributes a lot to the positive and motivating work atmosphere. What process of the materials study was much more hands-on. Every project has its own
is really appealing as well is that joint activities are highly valued – starting with ha- table of materials. Materials are fundamental components of the design process and
ving lunch together or going for an end-of-work beer, to the annual walking tours in are constantly compared and updated. And Buchner Bründler really have a strong
the summer or the office summer- and Christmas parties. sense for materials.

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