Visiting the work of Gion A. Caminada, embedded deep in the mountains of Switzerland, is to experience a weave of contemporary and ancient, where existing patterns are reinterpreted, enlivened and transformed. Of history, Caminada asks, “Can I use it for the moment I’m in?” Trained initially as a carpenter, he immerses himself in enriching experiences and multiple influences. He uses the term ‘cosmopolitanism’, which differs from ‘globalism’, defining the former as focusing on a specific location while at the same time being fully informed about how the world functions. Interested in everything, he refers to bricolage as a method of synthesis. Focusing on place, he strengthens difference in order to register and respect separate identities. This strategy of reinforcing the local has consequential ecological beneficial repercussions.
His submission for the 16th International Architecture Exhibition is on the remote village of Vrin which was affected badly by migration. Beginning in the 1980s, the Pro Vrin foundation initiated a project to improve the village’s infrastructure and to try to reduce the loss of its population.
In order to prevent speculation, the municipality bought all the available building land. For over thirty years, Caminada, the son of a local farmer, has been building projects on this land.
YF+SMcN
Gion A. Caminada
Veser Vrin