Valerio Olgiati

Valerio Olgiati is a Swiss architect, born in 1958. He initially studied architecture at ETH Zurich, a public research university in Zurich, Switzerland.

Olgiati's projects include the School Building in Paspels in 1998 and the Yellow House Museum in Flims in 1999. Other notable buildings include the House for the Musician/Atelier Bardill in Scharans, the Villa Além in Alentejo, the UNESCO World Heritage Bahrain Pearling Trail visitor center in Muharraq, and the Baloise Insurance Building in Basel.

Olgiati refers to his work as "non-referential architecture," which is also the title of a 2018 treatise by Olgiati and architectural theorist Markus Breitschmid which discusses the social purpose of architecture for the 21st century.

Olgiati and Breitschmid state, "Non-referential architecture is not an architecture that subsists as a referential vessel or as a symbol of something outside itself. Non-referential buildings are entities that are themselves meaningful and sense-making and, as such, no less the embodiment of society than buildings were in the past when they were the bearers of common social ideals."

The term "non-referential" in architecture first appeared in a reprint of an interview between Olgiati and Breitschmid in the Italian architecture journal Domus. In 2014, Breitschmid published "Architektur leitet sich von Architektur ab" (Architecture is Derived from Architecture) in the Swiss journal Werk, Bauen + Wohnen, responding to architectural claims that attempt to derive meaning from external factors such as economics, ecology, and politics. Architect Christian Kerez explored the limits of referentiality and spoke of "non-referential space" in relation to his contribution to the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2016. In the same year, architect Peter Eisenman noted that architecture has been moving toward non-referential objectivity, as architectural form is increasingly reduced “to a pure reality.”

In 2018, Olgiati and Breitschmid published the architectural treatise Non-Referential Architecture. The book analyzes societal currents of the early 21st century, arguing they differ significantly from the postmodern era. It proposes a framework for architecture and defines seven principles for non-referential architecture: 1) experience of space; 2) oneness; 3) newness; 4) construction; 5) contradiction; 6) order; and 7) sense making.

Olgiati has stated that his emigration to Los Angeles was the most important step in his architectural formation, more significant than his upbringing or architectural education. According to Olgiati, living in the diverse United States allowed him to understand the world in formal, natural terms rather than symbolic or historical ones.

This perspective shift, moving away from grounding architecture in tradition, was theoretically expressed in his Iconographic Autobiography, first published in 2006. The Iconographic Autobiography is an anthology of 55 illustrations that foreshadow non-referential architecture. While the work includes references, these are presented as intentionally devoid of inherent meaning. Olgiati has argued that only fundamental insights from spatial experience can advance contemporary architecture in today’s diverse societies.

Valerio Olgiati operates his architecture office with his wife Tamara and staff in Portugal and Switzerland. His work has been featured in solo exhibitions at institutions including the National Museum of Modern Art, the Royal Institute of British Architects in London, and the Colegio de San Ildefonso in Mexico City. Olgiati has held teaching positions at Harvard University (Kenzo Tange Chair), ETH Zürich, Cornell University, and the AA in London. He has been a professor at the Accademia di Architettura in Mendrisio since 2002.

• 비참조적 건축. 구상 Valerio Olgiati; 저술 Markus Breitschmid. Seoul: Hoi 2023ISBN 979-11-972696-9-1
• Valerio Olgiati. a+u, No.601, Tokyo, 10/2020ISBN 978-4-900212-56-5
• Arquitectura No-Referencial. Ideado por Valerio Olgiati; Escrito por Markus Breitschmid. Ciudad de México: Arquine 2020ISBN 978-607-9489-74-8
• Architettura Non-Referenziale. Ideato da Valerio Olgiati; Scritto da Markus Breitschmid. Zurich: Park Books 2019ISBN 978-3-03860-143-2
• Nicht-Referenzielle Architektur. Gedacht von Valerio Olgiati; Geschrieben von Markus Breitschmid. 2. Auflage, Zürich: Park Books 2019ISBN 978-3-03860-141-8
• Non-Referential Architecture. Ideated by Valerio Olgiati; Written by Markus Breitschmid. 2nd edition, Zurich: Park Books 2019ISBN 978-3-03860-142-5
• Nicht-Referenzielle Architektur. Gedacht von Valerio Olgiati; Geschrieben von Markus Breitschmid. Basel: Simonett & Baer 2018ISBN 978-3-906313-20-7
• Non-Referential Architecture. Ideated by Valerio Olgiati; Written by Markus Breitschmid. Basel: Simonett & Baer 2018ISBN 978-3-906313-19-1
• Valerio Olgiati. Projekte 2009-2017. Basel: Simonett & Baer 2017ISBN 978-3-906313-14-6
• Valerio Olgiati, The Idea of Architecture, Ciudad de México, Arquine 2018
• The Images of Architects, Editor Valerio Olgiati, Quart Verlag GmbH, Luzern 2013,ISBN 978-3-03761-069-5
• World Architecture, VALERIO OLGIATI - Hello China, Beijing, Nr. 266, 2012,ISSN 1002-4832
• A Lecture by Valerio Olgiati, Birkhäuser Verlag Basel, Switzerland 2011; English:ISBN 978-3-0346-0783-4; German:ISBN 978-3-0346-0782-7; Spanish:ISBN 978-3-0346-0787-2; French:ISBN 978-3-0346-0784-1; Italian:ISBN 978-3-0346-0785-8; ヴァレリオ ・ オルジャティ 講演録,ISBN 978-3-0346-0786-5, 108 pages
• Valerio Olgiati at the Museum / ヴァレリオ・オルジャティ展, Editor Hosaka Kenjiro, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan 2011–2012; Japanese and English:ISBN 978-4-9902409-3-6, 40 pages
• El Croquis #156, Valerio Olgiati 1996–2011, croquis editorial Madrid, Spain 2011;ISSN 0212-5633,ISBN 978-84-88386-65-6, 215 pages
• Valerio Olgiati, Parliament Entrance Chur, editor Grisons Building Department, Switzerland 2011; German:ISBN 978-3-9523831-0-0; English:ISBN 978-3-9523831-3-1; Italian:ISBN 978-3-9523831-1-7; Romansh:ISBN 978-3-9523831-2-4, 24 pages
• Valerio Olgiati, Weber Auditorium Plantahof, editor Grisons Building Department, Switzerland 2011; German:ISBN 978-3-9523831-4-8; English:ISBN 978-3-9523831-5-5, 24 pages
• Darco Magazine, monograph Valerio Olgiati, Darco Editions, Matosinhos, Portugal, 2010;ISSN 1646-950X, 236 pages
• Dado, Built and Inhabited by Rudolf Olgiati and Valerio Olgiati, Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel, 2010; English:ISBN 978-3-0346-0430-7, German:ISBN 978-3-0346-0375-1, 100 pages
• Valerio Olgiati, edited by Laurent Stalder, Texts by Mario Carpo, Bruno Reichlin and Laurent Stalder, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Köln 2008 (1st Edition) / Quart Verlag, Luzern 2010 (2nd edition); German:ISBN 978-3-03761-031-2, English:ISBN 978-3-03761-030-5, 192 pages
• The Significance of the Idea in the Architecture of Valerio Olgiati, Text in German and English by Markus Breitschmid, Verlag Niggli AG, Switzerland 2008,ISBN 978-3-7212-0676-0, 80 pages
• Valerio Olgiati, Scharans - House for a Musician, Edition Dino Simonett, Zurich 2007,ISBN 978-3-905562-54-5, 64 pages
• Valerio Olgiati, Conversation with Students, Edited by Markus Breitschmid, Virginia Tech Architecture Publications, USA, 2007,ISBN 978-0-9794296-3-7, 63 pages
• 2G, Valerio Olgiati, Gustavo Gili Barcelona, n.37, 2006,ISBN 978-84-252-2088-3, 143 pages with contributions from Pascal Flammer, Patrick Gartmann, Jacques Lucan and Raphael Zuber
• Valerio Olgiati, PLAN 1:100, Edition Dino Simonett, 2004,ISBN 3-905562-13-8, 64 pages
• Valerio Olgiati, Das Gelbe Haus, Kunsthaus Bregenz, archiv kunst architektur, Werkdokumente 19, 2000, Verlag Gerd Hatje,ISBN 3-7757-1004-3, 82 pages
• 14 Studentenprojekte bei Valerio Olgiati 1998 - 2000, Quart Verlag, 2000,ISBN 3-907631-04-8, 66 pages
• VALERIO OLGIATI, Das Gelbe Haus, Publikation zur Ausstellung an der ETH Zürich 28. Mai - 15. Juli 1999, gta Verlag, ETH Zürich,ISBN 3-85676-091-1, 18 pages, design: Raphael Zuber
• Valerio Olgiati, PASPELS, Edition Dino Simonett, 1998,ISBN 3-9521375-5-3, 65 pages

• website
• Valerio Olgiati at archinform
• Valerio Olgiati at nextroom