Swiss architect Philippe Rahm is a key figure in contemporary architecture. His theoretical work and praxis have broadened the scope of the discipline from physiology to meteorology and are crucial when considering the future of building.

The event at MOCAK has been inspired by Rahm’s most famous publication, Climatic Architecture (2013). The author demonstrates that climatic themes have been a perennial theme in architecture, beginning with Vitruvius and ancient architecture, and reminds us that the Italian Renaissance architects Palladio and Alberti discussed in their treatises the ways in which exposure to wind and sun, as well as changes in temperature and humidity, affect the form of cities and buildings. In the course of the industrial revolution and the transformations of the latter part of the 20^th century, many of these observations were forgotten or ignored, due to the fact that architecture had become dependent on fossil fuels, which power heating and air-conditioning systems.

The climate crisis that we are experiencing today has led to an increased re-evaluation of existing practices, bringing a turn towards solutions sympathetic to the notions of sustainability and care for existing resources.

Rahm writes: ‘Faced with the climate challenges of the 21st century, we propose to re-establish our discipline in relation to the intrinsic atmospheric qualities – where we recognise air, light, heat, and humidity as true building materials; where convection, thermal conduction, evaporation, radiation, emissivity, and effusivity become our design tools in the construction of cities – enabling architecture to revolutionise, according to the principle of dialectical materialism, aesthetic and social values.’

At the session at MOCAK, we will refresh our memory of the project that brought Philippe Rahm to the attention of the Kraków audience: the competition concept for the Cricoteka building. We will also be talking about his take on the history of architecture, and reflecting on how it changes our idea of the future.

Adam Budak and Dorota Leśniak-Rychlak will lead the discussion following the lecture.

Admission free thanks to the support of the co-organiser.

Seating is limited – first come, first served.

 

Philippe Rahm (born in 1967) is a Swiss architect (M. Arch., EPFL, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in 1993 and PhD, Paris-Saclay University in 2019), principal in the office of Philippe Rahm architectes, based in Paris. His work, which expands the field of architecture from the physiological to the meteorological, has gained international audiences in the context of sustainability. In 2002, Philippe Rahm represented Switzerland at the 8^th Venice Biennale of Architecture, and was one of the 25 architects to contribute the Manifesto at the 2008 Venice Biennale of Architecture, curated by Aaron Betsky. He participated in the biennales of architecture in Chicago in 2017 and 2023, Seoul in 2017, Sharjah in 2018, Tallinn in 2022 and Madrid and Tbilisi in 2024, among others. His recent work includes the first prize in the Farini competition (with OMA) in Milan in 2019, a masterplan for a 62-hectare new district and a 15-hectare park, the first prize in 2011 for the 70-hectare Taichung Gateway Park (Jade Eco Park/Central Park) in Taiwan, completed in 2020 (with Mosbach Paysagistes), the first prize for the 1800 m² agora of Radio France in Paris, and a 2,700 m² architectural exhibition design for the LUMA Foundation in Arles. His monographic books include: Environ(ne)ment: Approaches for Tomorrow, 2006, Architecture météorologique, 2009, Constructed Atmospheres, 2014, Form Follows Climate, 2017, Le jardin météorologique, 2019, Histoire naturelle de l’architecture, 2023 and the monograph Climatic Architecture, 2023. Phillipe Rahm has received the Silver Medal of the French Academy of Architecture in 2019 and was made a knight of the Order of Cultural Merit of Monaco in 2017. He has participated in a number of exhibitions worldwide (SFMOMA, San Francisco, 2001; Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2003–2006 and 2007; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk near Copenhagen, 2009; Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2010; MAXXI, Rome, 2014; CIVA, Brussels, 2023). In 2007, he had a solo exhibition at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal. He was a resident at the Villa Medici in Rome (2000). He has held professorships at the AA School in London (2005–2006), Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio (2004–2005), ETH Zurich (2006–2007), School of Architecture of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts of Copenhagen (2009–2010), School of Architecture and Design in Oslo (2010–2011), Princeton University (Jean Labatut Professorship, 2010–2012), Harvard Graduate School of Design (2014–2016), Cornell University (2019–2021) and at Columbia University (2016, 2023 and 2024) where has worked as Dean’s Visiting Associate Professor. He is currently holding a tenured associate professorship at École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Versailles (ENSAV) and Studio Critic at HEAD – Genève. He has lectured widely, including at Yale University, Beijing Forum, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the ETH Zurich. As of 2025, he is co-curator of the Biennial of Architecture and Landscape in Versailles and of the International Design Biennial in Saint-Étienne.

Philippe Rahm, ph. press materials