Arteplagemodelle der Direction artistique (Leitung: Pipilotti Rist). Herstellung: Koeppel & Martinez (bis 2003). Arteplagemodell Biel, Mst. 1:1500. Forum und Expopark. 26 x 115 x 80 cm. Schweizerisches Nationalmuseum, LM-108202.1

Physical urban scale models have the capacity to engage larger communities in architectural and urban debates.

A good example is the Swiss National Expo 02, which aimed to explore Switzerland’s identity under the banner, ‘Nature and Artificiality’. During the preparatory phase, which lasted ten years, countless concepts were tested. In this phase, models often had the role of negotiating between organisers and the public.

Time and time again, these models – their different scales, various materials, and colours – played a key role in tacitly presenting to the public what Swiss national identity was about. The Arteplagemodell by the Swiss artist and director of the exhibition, Pipilotti Rist, is exemplary in this respect.

Submitted by
Maxime Zaugg is an architect and doctoral candidate at the Chair of the History and Theory of Urban Design at ETH Zürich, and lecturer in the History and Theory of Urban Design at the Department of Architecture ZHAW, IUL (Institute Urban Landscape).

This object is part of the TACK Exhibition “Unausgesprochenes Wissen / Unspoken Knowledge / Le (savoir) non-dit”, in the section “Codes and Communities”.