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The Sciaredo Atelierhouse was built in 1932 by Georgette Klein, an artist from Winterthur, who lived in the house until her death in 1963. It is one of the very early examples of modern architecture in the southern part of Switzerland. The golden cube, surrounded by a beautiful park with oak trees, is nowadays a residence for artists - visual artists, writers, filmmakers, architects, etc. – who stay in the house to work on personal projects. Situated next to the village of Barbengo (Lugano), Sicaredo is also a place for artistic and philosophical exchange.

After the death of Georgette Klein, her sister, the historian Marcelle Klein (1895-1986) tried to maintain the house in the spirit of the artist. However, the task was too much for her and the house became more and more a “Sleeping Beauty”. Only in 1984 did the young local architect Lukas Meyer rediscover the house on the outskirts of the Collina d’Oro, realised its importance for the architecture “nel Ticino” and published some initial texts on it. At the same time artists from Winterthur started to look after the house and founded the “Association Sciaredo”.

After the death of Marcelle Klein in 1986, the house and its garden became the property of the “Kanton Zürich”. Ten years later, Sciaredo became a foundation – La fondazione Sciaredo – with the “Schweizerischer Werkbund”, the Swiss artists association “Visarte” and the “Verein Sciaredo” as official patrons. Although there was only a small budget available, the board along with the architect Willi Christen from Zurich as first president succeeded in 1999/2000 to renovate the fairly decayed house and its surroundings. Since 2000 the beautiful yellow cube built in the spirit of the “Bauhaus” is rented to artists for residencies according to the wish of Georgette Klein. If you are interested, consult the chapter “Rent”.

Translation: Annelise Zwez/Olga Stefan