Exhibition "Architectural Construction in Ticino, 1939-1996. Materiality and Tectonics"

The Teatro dell’architettura Mendrisio (TAM) of the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) presents, from 8 May to 20 December 2026, three new exhibitions promoted by the Academy of Architecture: “Architectural Construction in Ticino, 1939–1996. Materiality and Tectonics”, “Pino Musi. Continuum” and the installation “Sleipnir and the Labyrinth of Doors” by students enrolled in the Design studio Forte at the Academy of Architecture.
 

Architectural Construction in Ticino, 1939–1996.
Materiality and Tectonics
Exhibition promoted by the Academy of Architecture of the Università della Svizzera italiana
Curated by Franz Graf with Britta Buzzi, Carlo Dusi, Alessandro Bonizzoni, Sebastiano Verga.

Is it conceivable that architecture built in Ticino could serve as fundamental material for training students at the Academy of Architecture and, at the same time, could the students’ structural analysis yield a new way of looking at it?

• The exhibition

“Architectural Construction in Ticino, 1939–1996. Materiality and Tectonics” presents the results of an exchange between the pedagogical potential of first-rate architecture, perhaps a bit neglected but close at hand, and the identification and reinterpretation of its structural features by aspiring architects.
This creative dialogue led to research on contemporary architecture in Ticino that the Construction and Technology Area at the Academy of Architecture has been carrying out with his students for more than twenty years. Through the students’ analyses and drawings, the exhibition reveals the structural, architectural and spatial specificities of buildings that form part of an architectural and cultural legacy that has marked the urban and territorial fabric of Ticino.

Over the years and thanks to the continuity of the pedagogical project, this research has contributed to the creation of a provisional catalogue of Ticino’s “modern” buildings: neither an exhaustive inventory nor a record of the leading figures of a “Ticino school”, but a collection of objects selected for their structural interest. The material history of building thus becomes a tool for analysing and understanding techniques, building sites and the structural systems that shaped the form and structure of the architecture. This has revealed, albeit only partially, a plurality of “values” embodied by these buildings, not only in terms of the history of Ticino architecture but also the countless “micro histories” of this specific cultural context south of the Alps.

The exhibition introduces visitors to 100 buildings (more than 160 have been studied over the years), through reproductions of documents, images and graphic renderings by students from the Academy of Architecture. This chronological itinerary offers a reinterpretation of over fifty years of Ticino architecture through a close-up look at its tectonics and materiality.
The exhibition invites exploration of the different construction techniques – ranging from stone masonry to concrete and steel structures, from terracotta brick to Aalto-style structures using reclaimed timber, right through to volumes anchored to the ground or suspended – as expressions of the poetics of architectural works.

Twelve of the buildings are presented in further detail, each accompanied by a publication containing critical and historical texts, documentation and close analysis. These buildings are the Lugano Cantonal Library (1941) by Carlo and Rino Tami, the Military Arsenal of Biasca (1942) by Giuseppe Antonini, Giannetto Broggini, Bruno Brunoni, Giuseppe Ferrini, Ferdinando Fischer, Augusto Jäggli, Americo and Attilio Marazzi, Oswald Roelly, Carlo and Rino Tami, the Deposito Avegno (1955) by Rino Tami,the Albergo Arizona (1957) by Tita Carloni with Luigi Camenisch, the "I Grappoli" Holiday Village (1960) by Manuel Pauli and August Volland with Eva Pauli Barna, the Nuova Biaschina power station (1967) by Augusto Jäggli, Giovanni Lombardi and Giuseppe Gellera, the Cinema-Teatro Blenio (1958) by Giampiero Mina, the Casa Valleggione (1969) by Peppo Brivio, the Villa Gerosa (1971) by Tita Carloni, the Case Terenzio (1971) by Roberto Bianconi, the Losone Middle School (1974) by Livio Vacchini con Aurelio Galfetti and the House at Ligornetto (1976) by Mario Botta.

The exhibition concludes with a notable selection of models of the buildings examined, presented as a landscape of imaginary architecture. The exhibition also rounded off by three reports from Radiotelevisione Svizzera Italiana (RSI) and photographs taken by Roberto Conte in autumn 2025, which allow for a comparison with what has now become a heritage to be identified and safeguarded. An understanding of the physical nature and construction of these buildings is an essential prerequisite for the conservation and transmission of that heritage.

The exhibition presents an overview of the work carried out by the Area of Construction and Technology at the Academy of Architecture in collaboration with students, architects, engineers building owners and the indispensable assistance of private, public, cantonal and municipal archives, as well as the Archivio Architetti Ticinesi and the Archivio del Moderno of USI.

Photographs by Enrico Cano and Roberto Conte.
Graphic design by Nicola Piffaretti, Nomadesigners.

Archive images: RSI Archivi

• Curators

Franz Graf has a degree in Architecture from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and has been working as an independent architect in Geneva since 1989. An architecture professor and researcher at the University of Geneva from 1989 to 2006, he was appointed professor of Construction and Technology at the Academy of Architecture of USI, Mendrisio in 2005. From 2007 to 2023, he was professor of Architectural Theory and Design at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. His research focuses on knowledge of modern and contemporary construction systems, the conservation and reuse of twentieth-century architecture and the material history of the built environment, areas in which he has published numerous academic articles and books. He has been president of Docomomo Switzerland since 2010 and a member of Fondation Le Corbusier’s "Comité des experts pour la restauration de l'œuvre" since 2012. From 2008 to 2014, he was co-director of the research project Enciclopedia critica per il riuso e il restauro dell'architettura del XX secolo. He is currently head of the FNRS research project "Reload. Ripensare le procedure e le pratiche architettoniche per una transizione silenziosa", within the national program on Baukultur (2024–2028).

Britta Buzzi-Huppert completed her degree in Architecture at ETH Zurich in 1992. In 1995, she opened the studio Buzzi e Buzzi in Locarno with Francesco Buzzi, for the design of public and private buildings. Between 2007 and 2019, she was a member of the Landscape Committee of the canton of Ticino. She has taught in the technical and building disciplines at the Academy of Architecture of USI since 2010 and conducts research on architectural construction in Ticino in the second half of the twentieth century.

Carlo Dusi completed his degree in architecture at the Politecnico di Milano in 1998 and completed an MA in Restoration of Cultural Heritage at the Politecnico di Milano. He has been a professor and researcher at the Academy of Architecture of the Università della Svizzera Italiana since 2018. He has written numerous publications on the history of building and on the restoration of historical and modern architecture.

Alessandro Bonizzoni completed his degree in Architecture at the Politecnico di Milano in 2014. In 2013, he founded Fosbury Architecture, a design and research collective based in Milan. He is an assistant professor at the USI Academy of Architecture.

Sebastiano Verga completed his degree in Architecture at the Academy of Architecture of USI, Mendrisio in 2021. He is an assistant professor at the USI Academy of Architecture.

• Publication

The volume "Il Villaggio vacanze I Grappoli (1957–1960) di Manuel Pauli e August Volland with Eva Pauli Barna", edited by Franz Graf and Britta Huppert-Buzzi, will be published in connection with the exhibition. The volume is part of the series edited by the chair of Construction and Technology at the Academy of Architecture. The book on I Grappoli Holiday Village is the twelfth in the series and will be published jointly by Mendrisio Academy Press and Edizioni Casagrande.

• Calendar and Opening hours

8 May – 20 December 2026

Thursday – Friday
2:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Saturday – Sunday
10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Monday – Wednesday
Closed (open for groups and classes by reservation)

Summer closure: 13 July – 23 August 2026
For public holidays and special openings, consult the website: www.tam.usi.ch

• Open Days and Guided Tours

On the occasion of the exhibitions, the Teatro dell’architettura Mendrisio will regularly host free-admission open days, guided tours, and other special events. More information will be available later on the website www.tam.usi.ch.

Free Open Days
Sunday 10 May, 10.00–18.00, as part of International Museum Day, with a guided tour
Sunday 7 June 2026, 10.00–18.00
Sunday 5 July 2026, 10.00–18.00
Sunday 6 September 2026, 10.00–18.00
Sunday 4 October 2026, 10.00–18.00, MAM Network Day with a special event
Sunday 1 November 2026, 10.00–18.00
Sunday 6 December 2026, 10.00–18.00

Free guided tours of the exhibitions (in Italian)
In collaboration with students of the Academy of Architecture:
Saturday 6 June 2026, 11.00 am
Saturday 5 September 2026, 11.00 am
Saturday 3 October 2026, 11.00 am
Saturday 31 October 2026, 11.00 am
Saturday 5 December 2026, 11.00 am
On these dates, the guided tour is free, while entrance to the exhibition is subject to ticket purchase.

Guided tours with the exhibition curators
Dates will be announced soon through the TAM newsletter.

Group guided tours (ITA, ENG, GER, FR) available upon reservation, even outside regular opening hours.
For information and bookings, please write to: [email protected]