Swiss Pavilion façade by Claudia Caviezel
For the Swiss Pavilion at Expo 2017 Astana, Claudia Caviezel worked out the artwork for the outdoor façades and the projections in the installations inside, together with Atelier Oï and Presence Switzerland. Discover how the Swiss designer finds her inspiration and learn more about her work.
Judging from her body of work, showing influences from India, Mexico, Turkey, China, Morocco, Italy and many other places, you might think that this Swiss textile designer does nothing but travel, especially as her work radiates wanderlust. Everything she creates is based on impulsive yet intensive research of everyday life in far away places, supplemented with more unconscious but vivid impressions of her travels. And nature is an endless source of inspiration too.
Her signature curiosity about people, places and ideas has always led her round the world. So much so that Claudia Caviezel has stayed in Mexico, done a high school exchange in California, an art residency in New York, lived and worked in Paris, stayed in Madrid for a while, traveled through Turkey, visited Portugal to learn more about ceramics, and been to many other places in between.
Home is the Swiss countryside, in the former textile manufacturing part of the country. Claudia Caviezel says that much as she is influenced by the exuberance and colors of exotic far away destinations, the calm and strong morphology of the Swiss landscape – “those magnificent Alps!” – also strongly impacts on her work. "But yes, colors are key, they have an incredible significance, not only for me, but in general on how every person feels and thinks." She says her work is very Swiss: "I really like playing but I still take it very seriously."
After graduating from the University of Lucerne and receiving a Master's degree from the Istituto Europeo di Design in Madrid, she worked for Swiss haute couture textile manufacturer Jakob Schlaepfer. She did an internship with Dutch design trend guru Li Edelkoort, did numerous exchanges and received several awards – among others the most important of all: the Swiss Grand Award for Design in 2016. Since 2010, Caviezel has worked exclusively for textile fashion brand Akris. Apart from that, she has been doing free projects with ‘gusto’, ranging from a large mural at a hotel in Singapore, exuberant wallpaper, colorful rugs with geometric patterns, luxurious fashion textiles, exotic curtains, sofas to die for, larger than life lampshades, crazy pillowcases, and seductive bedcovers.
Her body of work is breathtakingly, masterly, endlessly diverse and intense. Those falling in love with her work risk being completely taken away - once you go Caviezel you never come back. And ultimately her intention is that her work gives us much joy. Mission accomplished.
More about Claudia Caviezel: caviezel.cc
Swiss Pavilion at Expo 2017 Astana
Welcome to the Swiss Pavilion! Step inside and discover an interactive and poetic ecosystem in the midst of the modern and dynamic Astana exhibition. Focused on energy efficiency and sustainability and the management of natural resources, the Pavilion is centered on renewable energy sources. It also shows off the beauty of the Swiss Alps and promotes Switzerland as fertile ground for scientific research and innovation.
More about the Swiss Pavilion: www.houseofswitzerland.org
