Experimental architecture

People didn’t know each other, didn’t speak the same mother-tongue, had different moral concepts and had virtually no idea as to what to what the others were capable of. What held a crowd of exhibition makers with a thirst for adventure together – and who, indeed, were thrown together in the first place?

Was it the pressure of time? On the one hand: yes, certainly. But who would voluntarily expo themselves to permanent stress especially when it was accompanied by suspicion and a challenge from the media? “You Expo lot don’t stand a chance, but go ahead!”

A second important factor was the enthusiasm to commit unconditionally to a collective and peaceful event that spanned the generations. This radiated a suggestive power that hardened into concrete, architectural pictures. Initially, these were only virtual, on screen, but becoming more perceptible with each Arteplage and hardening into actual symbols. An architectural achievement, the like of which Switzerland had probably never seen before.

_{Ruedi Rast, Directeur Technique, 2002}