Adam Caruso contributes an article to the October Issue of Domus, outlining how on the failure of architecture to address the imbalances of contemporary life has motivated him to look again, in practice and with students at the ETH, at the ideological and programmatic promises of modernism.
The article includes work by students from Studio Adam Caruso at ETH Zurich.
Main image:
Network = Networth
by Milena Buchwalder, Samira Lenzin, Meghan Rolvien and Edoardo Signori. A series of hypothetical gifts that might have been exchanged in the process of developing the Maag Areal in Zurich, a research project undertaken in the mode of Taryn Simon.
Images below, from left to right:
The Worth of Things: Catalogue of Spatial Elements
by Juan Barcia Mas and Xenia Strohmeyer. A series of re-made interiors in Zurich’s Toni Areal, drawing on a catalogue of spatial elements, found objects and past stories that bring back the vibes and uses of the legendary Toni Molkerei and other lost bohemian haunts of Zurich’s golden age of squatting
Donna Haraway: Staying with the Trouble
by Frederik Möst, Luca Riggio, Xenia Strohmeyer and Meret Heeb. A critical reading/performance of Donna Haraway’s seminal text narrating a possible future where plants,animals and humans strike a balance on our shared Earth. The author describes a difficult world called the Chthulucene which requires sympoiesis or making-with. During the reading, the students become hybrid beings mixed with the butterflies with which they share their land
Archiactor—The act of architecture
by Toja Coray, Leo Graf, Daria Ryffel and Anina Schmid. A live and recorded performance in the mode of Andrea Fraser presenting a rigorous and often hilarious critique of institutional failure in the project to convert the Toni Areal in Zurich into a home for the art school. The entire text comes from on-site interviews, studio discussions and term documents
The Whole Maag Catalogue
by Livia Cerfeda and Natalie Klak. A catalogue of the buildings, possessions and inhabitants of the Maag Areal in Zurich, turning what was meant to be private into something collective and giving everyone more space so that they can do more
Related news
On Saturday 26th of September there will be a public viewing of the newly completed Im Gut residential estate on Gutstrasse in Zurich. Developed in collaboration with Lütjens Padmanabhan Architects, the project for the housing cooperative im Gut renews the existing housing stock with around one hundred apartments, a kindergarten, and cooperative offices.
Exhibition
Out of Service?
Swiss Sacred Architecture in Transition
ZAZ BELLERIVE, Zurich
18 September 2026 – 7 February 2027
The exhibition Out of Service? – Swiss Sacred Architecture in Transition opens Friday 18th of September at ZAZ BELLERIVE, the centre for Architecture in Zurich. Through an exhibition of Swiss projects, this initiative highlights how sacred buildings that were once central to community life can be transformed to preserve their architectural and cultural value for future generations. Caruso St John is showcasing their work for the St Gallen Cathedral.
Newport Street Gallery won the Stirling Prize in 2016. To mark thirty years of the award, RIBA is hosting a celebration ceremony at Old Billingsgate, where the 2026 winner will also be announced. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Stirling Prize-winning project of the past three decades via the RIBA website.
Royale Belge, a collaboration by Caruso St John Architects with Bovenbouw Architectuur and DDS+, has been shortlisted for the RIBA 2026 International Prize. Four projects were shortlisted from the 34 schemes given RIBA International Awards for Excellence in June.
The jury will visit the projects next week and the winner will be announced at this year's Stirling Prize ceremony on 15 October 2026.
Exhibition
Haussmann Studiolo
Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur
Chur, Switzerland
14 November 2026 – 14 March 2027
The Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur presents Haussmann Studiolo, an exhibition dedicated to the pioneering Swiss architects and designers Trix and Robert Haussmann. Returning to Chur, where Trix Haussmann was born in 1933 and spent her formative years, the exhibition celebrates the couple's influential contribution to 20th-century Swiss design, architecture, and interior design. The exhibition is curated by Adam Caruso and Stephan Kunz and designed by Caruso St John Architects.
Newport Street Gallery has been shortlisted for the Brick Legacy Award at the Brick Awards 2026. The new category celebrates projects of enduring architectural quality that have stood the test of time.
Veemgebouw has won Gold in the Housing and Residential category of this year's Erich Mendelsohn Award, which recognizes architecture built in brick. The project was chosen for its sensitive transformation and adaptive reuse of a former Philips industrial warehouse. The intervention integrates a new residential volume on top of the original brick structure, establishing a clear dialogue between the historical facade and contemporary construction.
On Thursday, 10 September, Hospitalfield will host an afternoon in conversation at Custom Lane in Edinburgh. Titled The Site Conscious Practice of Artists; the Problem of the Rural Landscape is its Beauty, the event explores how cultural organizations can create hospitable, porous environments that nurture slow artistic practice while engaging broad public audiences.
The RIBA International Awards have been announced, and our project Royal Belge is a winner!
The awards aim to highlight design that tackles global challenges, and Royal Belge is praised for its adaptive reuse strategies, extending the life of a modernist icon.
The Ice Hockey World Championship concluded at Swiss Life Arena – designed by Caruso St John – with the final between Switzerland and Finland. For the first time, a World Championship was held in "our" arena. Seeing it go off without a hitch – from the opening game to the final – has been a privilege to witness. Congratulations to all who made it happen, and to Finland on a deserved victory.
The 2026 Summer Exhibition opens next week at the Royal Academy in London. The exhibition explores the theme of Interconnectedness, examining the relationships between people, art and the wider world. This year's Architecture Room has been curated by Peter St John, and the wider exhibition by Ryan Gander.
Hospitalfield is awarded the 34th International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens, 2025-2026, a prize awarded to a place with the capacity to transmit natural, historical and cultural values, devised and organised by the Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche. The prize is named in honour of Carlo Scarpa (1906-1978), the architect and creator of gardens. There will be a public ceremony in Treviso to celebrate the prize.