Office
Established in 1993, the firm, currently based in Lugano was founded by Pia Durisch and Aldo Nolli.
The practice pursues an independent architectural approach and ensures that both founding partners are intimately involved in every commission from conception to detail design. The firm has assembled a broad portfolio and has distinguished itself through several significant public buildings, heritage conservation and urban interventions.
Their first works include the Swisscom Service Centre in Giubiasco and the restoration of the Social Theatre in Bellinzona (1993-1997) in collaboration with Giancarlo Durisch, the restoration of the Monastery of Santa Maria Assunta in Claro (1997-2005) and the House for a Sculptor in Mendrisio (2000) which was awarded the SIA Award for best private building in Ticino for the period from 1998 to 2003.
Several public projects in the fields of culture and formation followed, including the Cultural Centre of Chiasso with the MaxMuseo and Spazio Officina in 2005, the Vocational Education Centre of the Swiss Builders Society SSIC in Gordola in 2011 and the Federal Criminal Court of Bellinzona in collaboration with Bearth & Deplazes in 2013. With these buildings, Durisch + Nolli have won all editions of the SIA Award in the last decade (2003-2015). Their most recent completed projects include a residential complex for 280 students in Lucerne for the Student Mentor Foundation in 2013 and the Nosedo Primary School in Massagno (2017) with Giraudi Radczuweit. In 2012 they won the international AIT Global Award for the very best in Interior and Architecture in the category ‘Education’ and in 2014 the Prix Acier for the best steel building in Switzerland. More recently, through the participation in various international competitions, they have also acquired important projects outside the canton of Ticino such as the Assembly and Arts Building of Aiglon College (2017) and the new headquarters for SRF Swiss Television Centre in Zurich (2017).
Their most recent completed projects include a residential complex for 280 students in Lucerne for the Student Mentor Foundation in 2013 and the Nosedo Primary School in Massagno (2017) with Giraudi Radczuweit.
In 2012 they won the international AIT Global Award for the very best in Interior and Architecture in the category ‘Education’ and in 2014 the Prix Acier for the best steel building in Switzerland. More recently, through the participation in various international competitions, they have also acquired important projects outside the canton of Ticino such as the Assembly and Arts Building of Aiglon College (2017) and the new headquarters for SRF Swiss Television Centre in Zurich (2017).
First established in Lugano, Durisch + Nolli opened a satellite office in Zürich in 2023, working on local projects and acting as a bridge between the North and South of Switzerland. The secondary office is focused on developing competitions in the Zürich region and collaborations with local offices.
Founders
Pia Durisch
Dipl. Arch. ETH BSA SIA
+41 91 960 18 30
Born in Lugano in 1964, Pia Durisch studied architecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich ETH, graduating in 1988 under Professor Flora Ruchat. In 1989 she won the Fritz Schumacher prize of the University of Hannover. From 1985 to 1986 she worked with Santiago Calatrava in Zurich before collaborating with Giancarlo Durisch in Riva San Vitale from 1989 to 1993. She was also assistant to Professor Peter Zumthor at the Accademia di Architettura in Mendrisio from 1996-1999. From 1998 to 2005 she was President of the Diocesan Commission of Sacred Art CDAS and has been a member of the Federation of Swiss Architects FAS since 2000. She became a member of the Federal Commission for Historic Monuments in 2008 and is also a member of the Commission for Competitions of the Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects SIA. She has been a member of the Board of Directors of Verlags-AG | Espazium AG since 2014. She was a visiting professor at the IUAV University of Venice in 2006, at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne EPFL from 2011 to 2013 and since 2014 at the Academy of Architecture of Mendrisio AAM.
Aldo Nolli
Dipl. Arch. ETH BSA SIA
+41 91 960 18 30
Born in Milan in 1959, Aldo Nolli studied architecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich ETH, graduating in 1984 under Dolf Schnebli. He worked with Santiago Calatrava in Zurich from 1981 to 1988 and with Giancarlo Durisch in Riva San Vitale from 1989 to 1993. He has been a member of the Federation of Swiss Architects FAS since the year 2000 of which he was Vice-President from 2005 to 2013. From 2003 to 2006, he was a member of the Scientific Committee of the Max Huber Foundation in Chiasso and from 2014 to 2016 was an Expert in Architecture for the Swiss Federal Commission for Art EKK. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Swiss architecture magazine “Werk, Bauen & Wohnen” since 2015. He was visiting professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign UIUC in 2000, at the IUAV University of Venice in 2006, at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne EPFL from 2011 to 2013 and since 2014 at the Academy of Architecture of Mendrisio AAM.
Partner
Niccolò Nessi
Dipl. Arch. MSc AAM USI
+41 91 960 18 32
Collaborators
Arianna Bardini
Arch. MSc AAM USI
ariannabardini@durischnolli.ch
+41 91 960 18 39
Dario Biscaro
Arch. X
+41
Daniel Brigginshaw
Arch. MSc AAM USI
danielbrigginshaw@durischnolli.ch
+41 91 960 18 31
Noé Bugnon
Arch. MA FH
+41 78 750 13 46
Domizia Lantin
Arch. X
+41 91 960 18 35
Giulia Lari
Arch. X
+41 91 960 18 34
Francesco Nozzi
Arch. X
francesconozzi@durischnolli.ch
+41 91 960 18 33
Giuseppe Rago
Arch. X
+41 91 960 18 37
Administration
Andrea Bisenti
Dipl.
+41 91 960 18 30
Practice
Arthur Chambat
+41 91 960 18 42
Since 1993
Antonino Accardo, Isabel Aichinger, Sebastiano Bagutti, Maja Barta, Ramona Berdondini, Laura Berther, Paolo Betti, Filippo Bolognese, Andrea Caramaschi, Monica Caramella, Paolo Catrambone, Chiara Cattarini, Marco Coppola, Sira Crivelli, Luciana Cuciovan, David Dalsass, Valentina Del Motto, Alberto Figuccio, Olivier Gauchat, Pietro Gellona, Irene Giovanetti, Paola Gysi, Dominique Hasler, Constantin Heid, Pierre-Jean Holl, Felipe Inauen, Till Jost, Ulrike Krommer, Jacopo Laffranchini, Valeria Laloli, Marco Lamanna, Michele Lenzi, Annalisa Leone, Dario Locher, Giona Lunghi, Jonatan Maddalena, Oscar Maradiaga, Matteo Marzi, Silvia Mauri, Alfredo Mazzieri, Alessandro Mazzucchini, Laura Müller, Gaia Mussi, Francesco Parisi, Nicolas Polli, Silvia Prearo, Margherita Pusterla, Alessandro Roda, Cristina Roiz De La Parra, Simona Sala, Davide Scardua, Thomas Schlichting, Birgit Schwarz, Elke Stauber, Greta Strano, Vincenza Sutter, Chiara Tansini, Martino Tomaselli, Daniela Vezzoli, Natascha Vitaliano, Michele Zanetta, Fabiola Pineda Zenteno.
Contact
Office Lugano
Durisch + Nolli Architetti Sagl
Via Luigi Canonica 8
6900 Lugano
+41 91 960 18 30
Office Zürich
Durisch + Nolli Architekten GmbH
Badenerstrasse 141
8004 Zürich
+41 78 750 13 46