Jean-Marc Lamunière

Jean-Marc Lamunière (*1925) studied architecture at the University of Florence and opened his own office in Geneva in 1952 together with Pierre Bussat. In 1973, he became a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, where he founded the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture (ITHA) together with Jacques Gubler in 1987, which he headed until 1992. Prior to this, a continuous exchange had been established between him and Louis Kahn from 1967 onwards through repeated invitations to the University of Pennsylvania. He realized most of his buildings in Geneva and the surrounding area, including the residential and commercial building in Lancy (1961-65), the archive and greenhouse of the botanical garden (1967-72 and 1979-1987), the Villa Dussel (1969-74) and the residential building on the Quai Gustave-Ador (1978-1984); another key building in his oeuvre is the Centre for Information and Graphics in Lausanne (1957-61). His drawings and watercolors have been exhibited internationally, including at the Architecture Biennale in Venice (1980). His approach to architecture combines rationalism and classicism and defends the status of the architect as an artist.