Boegli Kramp Architekten AG (Fribourg)

In our view, architecture is first and foremost a cultural act. As an important cultural asset, it must distill collective memory and do justice to the public component. It must mediate between the many, often invisible, qualities of a place on the one hand, and its spatial and built environment on the other, and enter into dialogue with the public space. Architecture is committed to cultural and urban continuity, and therefore hardly justifies a systematic break with context. Although architectural creation is inevitably rooted in its period of origin, it is always destined for permanence.

Every architectural concept must be based on the task in hand and the quality of the site. During the planning process, diverse and frequently changing influences affect the architectural concept and influence each other. One of our main concerns is the optimum implementation of the customer's requirements and objectives, which must be defined in an intensive dialogue. The result is a suitable architecture, which in its effect goes beyond simply responding to the concrete task at hand. In the search for coherence between specifications, structure, space, materiality, construction and emotion, the project's specific architectural language also develops, beyond recognition in the sense of a brand or label specific to the architect. A successful building is capable of harmonizing the functional and technical solution of the task at hand with the creation of formative urban and architectural structures and spaces, thus generating added value. It must respond to its environment and not isolate itself from it like a solitary autistic object, because architecture is a public good that must prove itself and stand the test of time.

Architects must be culturally and socially responsible authors. In this sense, regular participation in architectural competitions is as much a part of our professional profile as our involvement in competition juries and expert commissions, as well as membership of the boards of various professional associations. Our position as professor of architecture at the Fribourg School of Engineering and Architecture in the field of design gives us the opportunity to discuss our experiences, methods and concepts with students and pass them on to them.

We hope to make a lasting contribution to architecture and the promotion of good construction.