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K-State Today

October 30, 2012

Regnier Distinguished Visiting Professor Beat Kämpfen to deliver lecture

Submitted by Emily Vietti

Department of architecture 2012-2013 Regnier Distinguished Visiting Professor Beat Kämpfen will deliver his lecture, "Sustainable Architecture in Switzerland," at 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 5, in the K-State Student Union Little Theatre.

Swiss architect Beat Kämpfen is internationally recognized for his work that is guided by principles of energy efficiency and sustainability and expressed in contemporary architectural language. Beyond mere concerns for technological aspects, Kämpfen is guided by a holistic understanding of sustainability, one that encompasses social, ecological and economical aspects. For Kämpfen architecture is more than building – it is an expression of an epoch and testimony to a client’s ideas and wishes.

Central to Kämpfen work is solar architecture that has results not only in zero-energy buildings but, even more impressively, in plus-energy buildings -- buildings that over the course of the year return more energy to the grid than they use.

Kämpfen has been recognized for his work by receiving the Swiss Solar Prize eight times since 2002. Among the cited buildings is Sunny Woods, a six-family condominium building located in Zürich. Offering a new synthesis of architecture, ecology and energy efficiency, it is the first condominium building in Switzerland designed to achieve a zero-energy balance. In addition to the 2002 Swiss Solar Prize, Kämpfen also received the 2002 European Solar Prize for this building.

Kämpfen received a degree in architecture in 1980 from the Swiss Technical University of Zürich and a Master of Architecture in 1982 from the University of California-Berkeley. After returning to Switzerland he taught at the Swiss Technical University and has worked in several architecture firms, including as partner in Meister and Kämpfen Architects from 1985-1995. Since then Kämpfen has been principal at his Büro für Architektur, Office for Architecture, in Zürich, Switzerland.