What's Swiss, with 12 faces, spans a generation or two and yodels? Introducing Heimweh the latest Swiss Miss project. You might remember our Alpine gals—Eliane and Andra Borlo who brought a unique spin to traditional Swiss folk music—well forget the spin,—here's a veritable Russian roulette of twelve Swiss singers whose styles and backgrounds redefine the word gamut. Or the idea of a "Swiss Miss" for that matter.
So just in case you thought you knew Heidi, think again—this Swiss Miss is part Nigerian and she's from Valais; she's a human beat box, she's got reggae and blues; she's knows her bossanova; she is Asian; her soul is Brazilian; she's a ballerina; she's a vamp; a Wise Woman and she tangos...
Last year Martin Vosseler and a crew of four other Swiss adventurers made a historic crossing of the Atlantic aboard Sun21—a solar powered catamaran. This year Vosseler, a doctor by vocation, decided to take his message of solar power and energy renewal—on foot. Since January (2008) he has been walking across the United States. Helvetica Bold caught up with the itinerant doctor by phone when he spent the night with friends in Beebe, Arizona:
+ more...
It's one thing to have the benefit of superstar mentors, a harder thing to emerge beneath from their colossus intact. Christian Wassmann was introduced to the theater impresario Robert Wilson while still a student in Zurich. The result was a ten yearlong mentorship, which spawned a significant number of collaborations. When Wassmann moved to the US, he took a position with master architect Steven Holl and soon became his protégé. In 2005 Wassmann decided to leave Holl's firm and go solo. Since then, with a variety of unique design and installation projects, Wassmann has been transmitting his own distinct signal and charting a trajectory all his own...
+ more...
MARCEL LANGENEGGER TAKES ON THE HOLLYWOOD MACHINE —AND LIVES TO TELL
Last spring, award winning commercial director Marcel Langenegger’s Hollywood directorial debut was released. Deception, a psychological thriller, stars Hugh Jackman, Ewan Mcgregor and Michelle Williams. Dealing with big name stars, fluctuating budgets and the whims of studio executives, the first time director was beset with all kinds of obstacles. Nevertheless Marcel Langenegger lives to tell…
+ more...
We're pleased to announce that Tom Kundig, who we profiled here several months ago, is the winner of the 2008 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Architecture. Facing off with formidable future-forward talents of Weiss/Manfredi and the industrial chic of Lo-Tek, Kundig's graceful mechanics set in nature won out. As Mark Robbins, Dean of the Syracuse University School of Architecture and jury member noted, "All the jurors responded to the very direct poetry of the work that comes from the juxtaposition of late 19th-century industrial forms against the landscape. He [Kundig] has a great sensitivity to landscape—"
Elsewhere Kundig has been praised for his exploration and reinvention of parts of architecture that are overlooked or “forgotten,” such as doors, windows or stairs, as well as for his use of kinetic architectural elements.
+ more...
For our open contest "When I Think of Switzerland, I Think of..." the entries keep pouring in from children of all ages and diverse nationalities. Here's what we've got so far...
Born and raised in Lausanne, Switzerland, the son of a Turkish immigrant father and an East German mother, Yves Béhar is certainly no stranger to confluence. He came to the U.S. in 1990 to study at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Eight years ago he founded the aptly named fuseproject, a multifaceted design enclave he helms out of San Francisco.
In the past decade, Béhar has become one of the most acclaimed and sought after names in contemporary design. He wields an award winning design proficiency that spans the gamut: furniture, fashion, graphics, packaging, environments and strategy... So we imagined he's put some thought into the art of living well—that's why we asked him to list 5 innovations he couldn't live without.
+ more...
“Energy is the most pressing issue. If you have clean abundant energy, you can solve all today's problems: You can turn the Sahara into a garden, you can desalinate salt water, you can pump it wherever you want to have it. Cheap energy can develop the world. A barrel of oil -- one hundred and fifty-nine liters — contains the physical capacity of what twelve men would have to work for over a year. It's really the key to our time."
This is Basil Gelpke, and that’s the optimistic part. Here’s the flip side: Our global civilization is dependent on one particular energy source, and if we run out of it we’re in trouble. That time might be soon. It might be now.
+ more...
Originally from Altdorf, Switzerland, Henry Haller first apprenticed at the famed Park Hotel in Davos, Switzerland in 1939. He spent a decade perfecting his craft in hotel and restaurant kitchens of Switzerland and then later Montreal. In 1953 he arrived in the United States and a few years later he was the Executive Chef at the Sheraton in New York, commanding a staff of fifty.
In 1966 The White House put out an open call for a Chef. Haller (indifferent to the excitement surrounding this) actually told his wife, 'Well, if they want me, they can call me." He actually did receive a call from Lady Bird Johnson, the nation's First Lady at the time. And he did get excited when he was invited to tour the White House and its kitchens. On January 20 1966, Haller officially became the Executive Chef of the White House. He served under five presidents in a period spanning twenty-two years.
He retired under the Reagan administration and has lived since in Virginia with his wife Carole. We gave Mr. Haller a call to reminisce about his White House days...
+ more...
In 1735, in the city of Konigsberg, Germany, the people faced a conundrum: a river ran through the city dividing it into four separate land masses. Seven bridges were built so that people could get from one point to another, but herein lay the puzzle; was it possible to get around the city without crossing one bridge twice? It was pondered, strategies devised— laymen, aristocrats, clergy and scholars were all stymied, all except one man, the Swiss mathematician, Leonhard Euler. Euler solved the problem mathematically by envisioning points in the land masses as vertices, the bridges as arcs, in short, converting a geographical problem into a geometric equation. This penchant for looking beyond facades and pinpointing the invisible and abstract forces at work is what makes Euler’s work still relevant today. Look around you, most of the technology you are using right now is thanks to some Euler calculation: water out of your shower, your cable TV reception…
+ more...
Do you recall Pippi Longstocking, the fictional heroine of many beloved children’s books and films, who had the strength of ten men and crazy red antennae plaits for hair? Pippi lived with a horse and a monkey in a crazy offbeat house called Villa Villekula—or Villa Kunterbunt— if you grew up in Switzerland (in which case Pippi becomes Pippi Långstrumpf).
+ more...
What's Swiss, with 12 faces, spans a generation or two and yodels? Introducing Heimweh the latest Swiss Miss project. You might remember our Alpine gals—Eliane and Andra Borlo who brought a unique spin to traditional Swiss folk music—well forget the spin,—here's a veritable Russian roulette of twelve Swiss singers whose styles and backgrounds redefine the word gamut. Or the idea of a "Swiss Miss" for that matter.
Last year Martin Vosseler and a crew of four other Swiss adventurers made a historic crossing of the Atlantic aboard Sun21—a solar powered catamaran. This year Vosseler, a doctor by vocation, decided to take his message of solar power and energy renewal—on foot. Since January (2008) he has been walking across the United States. Helvetica Bold caught up with the itinerant doctor by phone when he spent the night with friends in Beebe, Arizona:
It's one thing to have the benefit of superstar mentors, a harder thing to emerge beneath from their colossus intact. Christian Wassmann was introduced to the theater impresario Robert Wilson while still a student in Zurich. The result was a ten yearlong mentorship, which spawned a significant number of collaborations. When Wassmann moved to the US, he took a position with master architect Steven Holl and soon became his protégé. In 2005 Wassmann decided to leave Holl's firm and go solo. Since then, with a variety of unique design and installation projects, Wassmann has been transmitting his own distinct signal and charting a trajectory all his own...
Last spring, award winning commercial director Marcel Langenegger’s Hollywood directorial debut was released. Deception, a psychological thriller, stars Hugh Jackman, Ewan Mcgregor and Michelle Williams. Dealing with big name stars, fluctuating budgets and the whims of studio executives, the first time director was beset with all kinds of obstacles. Nevertheless Marcel Langenegger lives to tell…
We're pleased to announce that Tom Kundig, who we profiled 
Born and raised in Lausanne, Switzerland, the son of a Turkish immigrant father and an East German mother, Yves Béhar is certainly no stranger to confluence. He came to the U.S. in 1990 to study at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Eight years ago he founded the aptly named fuseproject, a multifaceted design enclave he helms out of San Francisco.
“Energy is the most pressing issue. If you have clean abundant energy, you can solve all today's problems: You can turn the Sahara into a garden, you can desalinate salt water, you can pump it wherever you want to have it. Cheap energy can develop the world. A barrel of oil -- one hundred and fifty-nine liters — contains the physical capacity of what twelve men would have to work for over a year. It's really the key to our time."
Originally from Altdorf, Switzerland, Henry Haller first apprenticed at the famed Park Hotel in Davos, Switzerland in 1939. He spent a decade perfecting his craft in hotel and restaurant kitchens of Switzerland and then later Montreal. In 1953 he arrived in the United States and a few years later he was the Executive Chef at the Sheraton in New York, commanding a staff of fifty.
In 1735, in the city of Konigsberg, Germany, the people faced a conundrum: a river ran through the city dividing it into four separate land masses. Seven bridges were built so that people could get from one point to another, but herein lay the puzzle; was it possible to get around the city without crossing one bridge twice? It was pondered, strategies devised— laymen, aristocrats, clergy and scholars were all stymied, all except one man, the Swiss mathematician, Leonhard Euler. Euler solved the problem mathematically by envisioning points in the land masses as vertices, the bridges as arcs, in short, converting a geographical problem into a geometric equation. This penchant for looking beyond facades and pinpointing the invisible and abstract forces at work is what makes Euler’s work still relevant today. Look around you, most of the technology you are using right now is thanks to some Euler calculation: water out of your shower, your cable TV reception…
Do you recall Pippi Longstocking, the fictional heroine of many beloved children’s books and films, who had the strength of ten men and crazy red antennae plaits for hair? Pippi lived with a horse and a monkey in a crazy offbeat house called Villa Villekula—or Villa Kunterbunt— if you grew up in Switzerland (in which case Pippi becomes Pippi Långstrumpf).
