Michel Kessler
Architect, Writer and Filmmaker
Michel Kessler is a Swiss architect, writer and filmmaker based in Zürich, with a background in classical philology. His practice connects architecture, dramatic writing and scenography. His plays include Pentheus, developed through Theater Winkelwiese’s DRAMENPROZESSOR, Medeakomplex and B-2 Spirit, which bring ancient material into contemporary geopolitical contexts.
He received a literature work grant from the City of Zürich in 2022, and his practice, michel.kessler+associates, received the Foundation Award for Innovation in Architecture in 2024. His short film Under the Ice, co-directed with David Oesch, received the Méliès d’Argent for Best European Short Film.
Presentation: “Radical Recomposition”
15 October 2026, 11:30–11:45, Online Session. Symposium Agenda
Abstract
How can damaged buildings and inherited dramatic texts be transformed while retaining the traces of their history? This presentation brings Lebbeus Woods’ studies for Sarajevo into conversation with Heiner Müller’s writing and my own work in theatre and architecture. In Pentheus, Medeakomplex and B-2 Spirit, ancient material enters contemporary constellations of war. Scenographic projects examine how fragmentation and the interruption of images can become spatial operations.