Following a period of isolation at the start of the Lockdown, Adam Caruso met host Matthew Blunderfield online to discuss teaching at ETH Zurich, the work of Pierre Huyghe, and the series of monographs on lesser-known Modernist architects he co-edits with with his partner, Helen Thomas.
"[When we started our practice] we were really interested in the syntax of architecture - how you make a brick wall, how you make an opening - and we believed that the syntax of architecture held within it the culture of architecture. And the reason we concentrated on that rather than the semiotics of architecture is that we didn’t believe so much in a shared language [for architecture to speak symbolically]. We live in a society that’s diverse and globalised, and I’m trying to find positive ways of engaging with those things”
Image: Pierre Huyghe After ALife Ahead Skulptur Projekte Münster, 2017
© flickr / stephane333
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Peter St John talks galleries, ice hockey and awards with Hugh Pearman, editor of the RIBA Journal
Award
Architecture Book of the Year
Caruso St John, Collected Works, Volume 2
London, United Kingdom
10th December 2024
The second volume of Caruso st John's Collected Works has received a commendation in the 2024 Architecture Book of the Year awards. Read the judges' report below.
Studio Caruso at ETH Zurich has designed the latest exhibition for gta exhibitions, the first comprehensive retrospective of OMARA Mara Oláh to be staged in Switzerland.
A feature-length documentary on the history and renovation of the Royale Belge building will be premiered in the building's auditorium.
The ZSC Lions have been crowned champions of the Swiss National Hockey League after defeating rivals Lausanne HC in front of a home crowd at the Swiss Life Arena.
Caruso St John have previously collaborated with the artist Rachel Whiteread, together with Marcus Taylor, on proposals for the Holocaust Memorial in Victoria Park Gardens.
Recently, Rachel Whiteread made a cast in concrete of the steel staircase designed by the practice at the Gagosian Gallery, Kings Cross. The gallery in Kings Cross opened in 2004, and closed last year after moving to Mayfair.
Royale Belge has won plaudits at the annual MIPIM real estate fair in Cannes. The project was shortlisted in two categories at the MIPIM Awards, Best Conversion and Best Mixed-use, and triumphed in both.
Caruso St John have designed an exhibition of sculpture by Alberto Giacometti, Bruce Nauman and Pablo Picasso for Gagosian's Grosvenor Hill gallery.
To coincide with the Flanders Architecture Institute's exhibition As Found, director Dennis Pohl will chair a panel discussion on experimental approaches to the transformation of existing buildings in Belgium and the UK. The discussion will feature Peter St John and Johan Anrys of 51N4E in conversation with exhibition co-curator Hülya Ertas. Register for tickets here
Book launch, Milan
Caruso St John: Collected Works
Volume 2, 2000–2012
Spazio, Milano
7th December 2023
Milan's Spazio gallery and bookshop hosts an event to celebrate the publication of Caruso St John's Collected Works Volume 2. Adam Caruso will discuss the themes explored by the book, notably how the practice's work has been influenced by the architecture of 20th century Chicago and Milan.
Lecture and book launch, London
All buildings are beautiful
Collected Works Volume 2
Royal Academy, London
29th November 2023
Adam Caruso and Peter St John mark the launch of Caruso St John: Collected Works Volume 2 with a lecture at the Royal Academy.
The partners will discuss their experience of working with existing structures, from modestly scaled early work, to substantial projects such as Tate Britain and the Newport Street Gallery in London, Veemgebouw in Eindhoven and Royale Belge in Brussels.