Shaped by a prudent, serious and unpretentious attitude, even Roger Diener’s early work – such as the small office building on Hochstraße or the Picassoplatz building, both in Basel – still inspires the work of later architects.

»The House and the City« and the interplay between the European city’s historic and new buildings are the basic themes of an architectural examination that time and again lead Roger Diener to develop exemplary solutions. Work on large-scale urban planning such as the Warteck area in Basel and on small additions to listed buildings such as the Swiss Embassy in Berlin powerfully demonstrates his convincing position straddling the borders of individual standards and disciplines.

The consistently exemplary power of Roger Diener’s work is built on the absolute realism of what he does, his stripping back to the innate resources of architecture, and his untimely interest in generalisable convention. His work does not shy away from ambiguity, opening it up to new perspectives and ensuring that it remains timeless. 

About Roger Diener, Prof. em. ETH Architect BSA SIA BDA

Roger Diener (born in Basel in 1950) studied at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) with Aldo Rossi and Luigi Snozzi among others. In 1976, he joined the office run by his father, Marcus Diener, which he then took over in 1980. Following appointments as visiting professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Harvard University, and universities in Vienna, Amsterdam, and Copenhagen, he held the position of Professor of Design at the EPFL from 1987 to 1989. From 1999 to 2015 Roger Diener was a professor at the ETH Zurich where he taught and published at the Studio Basel with Marcel Meili, Jacques Herzog, and Pierre de Meuron. From 2005 to 2013 Roger Diener was a member of the Berlin State Monument Council. Since 2013, Roger Diener has been an active member of the Federal Commission for Monument Preservation. Since 2018 he has also been a member of the Commission that oversees the designation and protection of local landmarks in Zurich.

He has received numerous awards, including the French Grande Médaille d’Or d’Architecture, the Prix Meret Oppenheim, and the Heinrich Tessenow Gold Medal. In late October 2019, Roger Diener was the first architect to win the City of Basel Culture Award with his firm Diener & Diener Architekten.

Awarding of Dr. h. c. honorary doctorate to Roger Diener
Thursday 24 October 2019, 6 pm
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar Oberlichtsaal, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 8, 99423 Weimar

Images of the honorar doctorate awarding ceremony

Tribute by Professor Springer from the honorary doctorate ceremony

Keynote speech by Roger Diener