10th annual report of the Sotto Voce Foundation
Baukultur
Baukultur is the German term for the culture of building or generally speaking, a built environment. Starting in 2018, Fondation Sotto Voce is following the Davos Declaration, an initiative of the Swiss Federal Ministry of Culture (BAK) to connect all institutions in Europe that deal with improving the quality of the built environment. Sotto Voce sees its mission in the promotion and understanding of this central part of life, connecting experts and users alike.
Architecture Pop-Up Museum
The period of mid-2018 to mid-2019 was shaped by the planning and implementation of the first Pop-Up Museum for young architects in Zurich. Sotto Voce offered 19 young architects the opportunity to present their professional positions with a temporary intervention in the Kosmos cultural center. Sotto Voce organized the entire project, ranging from an open competition with a jury of experts to the actual implementation of all projects. Sotto Voce accompanied the one-month exhibition with numerous public tours, which were very well received by participants and audiences alike.
Architecture Film Days
The start-up AFTZ (Architektur FilmTage Zürich) organized it’s annual film festival with individual screenings on architecture and the impact of architecture on our modern world. Film screenings were accompanied by panel discussions with international experts and offer networking opportunities for everyone interested in the built environment. AFTZ has made impressive progress in such a short period of time. Sotto Voce will support AFTZ to promote a sustained development through visual initiatives.
Transfer Video Award
Transfer Architecture is a globally operated internet platform founded by former ETH professor Josep Lluís Mateo. In 2019, Transfer launched the "Transfer Video Award", the first international competition for short films in architecture. In close cooperation with Transfer and the Architektur FilmTage Zürich, the screening of the finalist films and award ceremony took place at the Zurich Architecture Center, ZAZ Bellerive. Sotto Voce will support the Video Award as a main and long term sponsor with the goal of turning the project into a regular international communication award incentive focused on architecture.
Wunderkammer Glattpark
Sotto Voce is closely following the development of the Wunderkammer project (German for "Cabinet of curiosities") located at Glattpark Opfikon, a massive redevelopment area just outside of Zurich. Wunderkammer is a construction site where young people can learn about architecture and building in a direct, hands-on approach. The goal of this integrative project is to provide young people with a stable, productive community in a socially challenging neighborhood. Sotto Voce supports this ambitious initiative with its network in the field of philanthropy, which has helped to create a professional project documentation. Depending on future development, a next step could include direct support for the architecture-specific elements of the project.
Network and future projects
The foundation has further expanded its network and made contacts at various levels of Baukultur promotion and education.
A top-level relationship was forged with the BAK (Swiss Federal Ministry of Culture), which is responsible for the implementation of the goals set in the Davos Declaration. This relationship was reinforced at the international level by our participation at the "Taking the Measure of Baukultur" conference in Geneva in November 2019. The Measure of Baukultur Conference will be a key networking event in the future.
Sotto Voce is closely following the field of Baukultur education for children, as practiced by internet platform Archijeunes and K'Werk Bildschulen, with the intent of a direct future collaboration.
At another local level, the Sotto Voce Foundation is in dialogue with the non-profit club NextZürich, that works on participatory projects in the field of urban planning. After a long development phase, a concrete project is in the making for 2020.
Internal development
Sotto Voce is continuously developing its mission to convey Baukultur at various levels of the professional and public communities in Switzerland and abroad.
A specially developed internal due diligence guideline will provide an analytical tool for the evaluation of future applications for the Foundation.
With an eye to the foundation's long-term perspective an expert partner in the field of philanthropy has been asked to help develop our vision for the future.