Not Vital: The Latest Architecture and News

Alma Zevi has developed a book offering an intimate and definitive account following the career of Swiss sculptor, painter, and architect Not Vital. This comprehensive book delves into Vital's pomading life, seeking and building homes in various cities, from Paris, New York, Beijing, and Rio de Janeiro. The book explores the artist's seminal sculpture practice and architectural projects, featuring a catalog of over 450 sculptures and related works. Drawing on archival material and personal interviews with the artist, Zevi seeks to provide a portrait of his career to date.

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“If you’re a painter, you need a canvas. If you’re a sculptor, you need marble or plaster. And if you build a house, you need a piece of land.” Welcome to the wonderful world of Not Vital, where the Swiss multi-faceted artist shows us his sculpture park, foundation, and castle in this video.

Louisiana Channel meets Not Vital in his studio in Sent, the town in Switzerland where he grew up and one of the places where he still lives. Building places to live have been with him since childhood: “My first work was more related to trying to build a house or a habitat. The first one was when I was only three years old in 1951. There was so much snow that my brother and I built a tunnel,” he says and continues: “I think that it was the first time I realized that I like to build my own habitat. Even though it was much more comfortable to live in the house, I spent the day in the tunnel. I remember the light, the smell of the snow. I just felt great.”