A profile of the work and practice of Roger Diener

The Swiss architect Roger Diener reflects on 30 years of practice and key projects, which he still struggles to feel proud of.

‘I was always interested in art and architecture as a boy, and today collaborations with artists are really important for us. The Swiss Embassy in Berlin shows the two collaborative strategies we experience as architects: one to share the experience of a design from the very first day, like we did with Helmut Federle; and the other is with the an artist who joins the site only once the architecture is given, as we did successfully with Pipilotti Rist.’ 

Roger Diener took over the Swiss architecture practice his father founded. Known for their subtle, sophisticated Modernist buildings and town plans, Diener & Diener have recently begun to design buildings that add a new lightness and liveliness to the geometric rigor and intellectual clarity that have always characterized their designs.