About us
What is Open House Bern?
Open House Bern is a decentralised architecture event which, under the motto ‘Architecture for All’, uses the two-day event of the same name to make a diverse, curated programme of buildings in Bern and the surrounding area accessible to a wide audience free of charge.
The programme includes expert-led tours, self-guided visits, city and neighbourhood walks, site visits, construction site tours, workshops and a children’s programme. Regardless of age, background, level of education or income, visitors are given the opportunity to engage with their own city, their neighbourhood and Bern’s built environment.
Through conscious observation and in-depth engagement, a sense of identification with Bern as a place to live, work and spend one’s daily life is fostered. Visitors learn how designed indoor and outdoor spaces are linked to quality of life. The event’s low-threshold nature ensures a diverse audience comprising residents, day trippers, specialists and the general public in equal measure. The event promotes architectural education and creates points of contact with other realities of life. In doing so, it plays a central role in fostering social cohesion across society. Inclusion is a key consideration in the programme’s design.
Who is Open House Bern?
We are a politically and religiously independent association based in Bern. Our aim is to use the indoor and outdoor spaces we open up to the public to encourage public discussion about architecture and built environment, and to bring together existing stakeholders.
The interdisciplinary project team works on a voluntary basis to organise the event.
The project team:
Roxanne De Raeymaecker, Programme Development
Caterina Menghini, Co-Director
Sonja Blaser, Graphic Design
Maya Haenggli, Programme Development
Nadine Kilcher, Programme Development
Nicola Schürch, Programme Development
Fiona Kohler, Co-Director
Renato Marti, Programme Development
Former members:
Rahel Gugelmann, Founder of Open House Bern
Bettina Marti
Tim Schwander
Tobias Zimmermann
Agathe Baumont
Giuliana Merlo
Silvan Dietrich
We would like to take this opportunity to extend our heartfelt thanks to Rahel for founding Open House Bern, for her dedication, her enthusiasm and the many hours she has invested. Without her, this idea would never have become a reality.
Questions? Suggestions? Feedback? Please feel free to get in touch office@openhouse-bern.org
The external panel of experts
The members of the panel of experts advise us and support us in putting together the programme and making strategic decisions.
Members (list in alphabetical order)
- Pascale Bellorini, Architect / Professor of Architecture HSLU / Co-Chair BSA Bern
- Rahel Gugelmann, art and architecture historian
- Prof. Dr Laura Hindelang, Professor of Architectural History and Heritage Conservation, University of Bern
- Adrian Kast, Architect / Co-Chair BSA Bern
- Prof. Dr Dieter Schnell, Professor of History and Theory of Architecture BFH Bern
Anne-Catherine Schröter, Co-President of Berner Heimatschutz Region Bern Mittelland
Our sister organisations
If you can't get enough of Open House, you should definitely take a look at the programmes of Open House Basel and Zurich as well as Open Doors Engadin!
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Esther Baur(Open House Basel), Raphael Karrer(Open House Zurich), Ludovica Molo(Open House Ticino) and Christoph Oggenfuss(Open Doors Engadin) for their friendly cooperation and knowledge transfer. Without them and their teams, we would never have dared to dream of organising our own Open House event in Bern.
Open House Worldwide
Our umbrella organisation Open House Worldwide now unites over 50 cities around the world. It ensures that the think tanks of the participating cities can exchange ideas and inspire each other at annual conferences. We are grateful to be part of this network and to be able to establish the successful "Open House" format in Bern.