ADDRESS // BIRMENSDORFERSTRASSE 271, CH-8055 ZÜRICH //
JASSA 44, CH-7542 SUSCH //
PHONE +41 (0) 76 210 56 21 EMAIL: info@vpsworks.ch
VPS is a Zurich-based office for architecture. The practice operates at the intersection of design, structure, economy, climate, and energy, developing architecture through close interdisciplinary collaboration and precise spatial thinking. VPS seeks to establish architecture as an integrative process in which typology, construction, environmental performance, and economic logic are considered simultaneously rather than sequentially.
TEAM
Florian von Planta, MSc Arch ETH SIA
Vinzenz Leuppi, MSc Arch ETH SIA
Ansgar Stadler, MSc Arch ETH SIA
INDEX PROJECTTYPECATEGORYYEAR
2606RE:MIX
Visitor CenterCompetition – 1. PRIZE20262602THEATHER OF THERMO.
Winter School
Academic2026
2512BEYOND THE HORIZON
MuseumStudy20252505INVERTED SAUNASaunaPrivate2025 - ongoing2503CROQUE MADAMESchoolCompetition20252301REPOWERING ArticleWriting20252408SOLAR LABORATORYSummer SchoolAcademic20242401LE LOCLEHousingPrivate20242308 SOLAR GRILL PROTOTYPEInstallationResidency20232107FEIERABENDSTRASSEHousingPrivate202323068400+InfrastrctureStudy2023
2303APPROACHABLE BUNKERArt StorageStudy20232106NACLInstallationAcademic20212102PARTICLE ANIMATORInstallationAcademic2021
0000INFO
© 2026 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
SOLAR GRILL PROTOTYPE
What if the sunshine determines our menu? What would our cookbook look like? What happens if the clouds feel funny? The sun – the ominous, distant nuclear reactor – produced our food with its flattering rays. Now it also can help us to cook our meals.
Minimizing the use of non-generative resources is not only an issue in remote areas far from super abundances which urban areas offer. Still, the location of our residency at Furka Zone at an altitude of 2429 meters above sea level, more than 500 meter above the tree line, was the starting point of a cooking device powered by the sun. Through ‘active cooking’ the Solar Grill challenges common consumption and cooking habits which rely on constantly available energy sources and are independent of natural rhythms. Instead, there is no gas, no charcoal, no wood or no fire required. Just the sun. The chefs using the solar device have to constantly study the environment, the sun path and the climatic conditions. As planet Earth is constantly moving, a steady re- adjustment of the BBQ device is necessary to keep the meal in the concentrated ray. It’s about living with the natural cycle far away from the conveniences and comforts that our familiar life is offering in a hyper excess. Nevertheless, like a ceremony of the sun dance, it’s a social practice of prepare.
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