This second volume in Caruso St John’s Collected Works is published this month by MACK. The publication traces an interlacing set of themes through the practice’s work over the first twelve years of the twenty-first century. Its unique approach to history is revealed as a rejection of the myth of relentless novelty in favour of an understanding of the past as present and an interest in working with the existing. The influences of Milan, Chicago, and Rome on understandings of the city are explored, as well as the use of ornament and the place of Switzerland in shaping the practice’s evolving trajectory. Throughout these contexts, collaborations with contemporary artists including Thomas Demand and Damien Hirst continue to shape the practice's relations to the materiality and drama of space.
Owen Hatherley takes an in-depth look at the first two volumes of Caruso St John's Collected Works for Sidecar, the blog of the New Left Review, charting the practice's origins in 1990s London and its 'principled refusal' of the tenets of the so-called starchitects that rose to prominence during that decade.
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.
A+U magazine has published a second issue dedicated to the work of Caruso St John. The publication covers projects undertaken since 2015, with a particular focus on the practice's work with existing structures.
Publication
Mount Royal
Adam Caruso
In a publication presented by ETH Studio Jan De Vylder, Adam Caruso reflects on his experiences growing up in Montreal and family visits Mount Royal, the mountain located directly west of downtown and one of the city’s largest green spaces.
As part of the IEA Practice What we Teach? Lecture Series at ETH Zurich, Adam Caruso will discuss Caruso St John's long history of working with existing buildings, from its modestly scaled early work to large-scale recent projects.
In conversation
Florian Zierer
Berlin International University of Applied Sciences
Berlin, Germany
8th October 2024
Florian Zierer will be in conversation at the Berlin University of Applied Sciences on 8th October 2024, introducing the practice's recent projects with existing buildings.
St Pancras Campus
Architecture Foundation
Summer School 2024
London, United Kingdom
11th – 15th September 2024
The Architecture Foundation is staging a summer school for architects and architecture students at Caruso St John's newly completed St Pancras Campus mixed use development.
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
Florian Zierer will give a lecture on Caruso St John's recent work repurposing historical buildings, as part of Architecturtage 2024 at Haus der Architektur, Graz.
Rod Heyes will give a talk at the Architectural Association as part of a symposium focusing on adaptive reuse. The symposium brings together a group of leading architects to present their projects, with the intention of stimulating discussion around their lessons for education, practice, and policy.
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.
Exhibition
What if?
Unbuilt Architecture in Switzerland
SAM Basel
25th November 2023 – 7th April 2024
Two competition-winning projects by Caruso St John feature in What if? Unbuilt Architecture in Switzerland. The exhibition at Schweizerisches Architekturmuseum Basel offers a glimpse of an alternative Switzerland with a showcase of significant unbuilt projects from across the country.
Planning permission has been granted for the conversion of a 19th century fertilizer factory at a former industrial site in Uetikon am See on the banks of Lake Zurich.
Planning permission has been granted for the redevelopment of the Twentieth Century Theatre —a Grade II listed former music hall on Westbourne Grove in Notting Hill— into a new venue for classical music.
Book launch, Zurich
Caruso St John: Collected Works
Volume 2, 2000–2012
Escher Wyss Platz, Zurich
19th November 2023
The launch of Caruso St John: Collected Works Volume 2, 2000–2012 will be marked with an outdoor launch event beneath the canopy of 301 Hardstrasse. The office building, designed by Caruso St John, stands in close proximity to Escher Wyss Platz, the intended site of the Nagelhaus, the public art project by Caruso St John and Thomas Demand, whose collaboration is one of the themes explored in the book.
The second floor of the Wiedikon Warehouse has been reorganised to welcome a new family member.
Exhibition
The Whole City
Hamburg Competitions and Procedures 2017–2023
Hamburg, Germany
23rd June – 14th July 2023
Several designs by Caruso St John feature in an exhibition by Hamburg's Department of Urban Development and Housing, presenting architectural competitions and procedures undertaken in the city from 2017 to 2023.
Tate Britain features prominently in the BBC's trailer for the 2023 series of its Saturday night dance show, Strictly Come Dancing.
Peter St John is joined by Dirk Sommers of Bovenbouw Architectuur for a talk on the practices' newly completed renovation of the Royale Belge insurance headquarters. The event is organised by Urban Brussels as part of the Urban Lunch series and features presentations of three milestone projects that have recently been undertaken in the city.
Construction has started on a new office building on Stampfenbachstrasse in central Zurich. The building, for multinational insurance company AXA, houses around 4,000 square meters of office space over seven floors.
The project for the renovation of the Royale Belge in Brussels has now completed. An opening event was held on 28th June, hosted by Mix – a new venue encompassing a hotel, restaurant, gym and co-working space. The food hall and terrace on the ground floor has also opened, creating a new destination for the Watermaal-Bosvoorde area of Brussels. The project’s diverse functions are brought together by the new hall and staircase which creates a new centrepiece for the iconic building.