The F+F School for Art and Design Zürich or F+F is a private art school in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. F+F stands for "''Form und Farbe''" (in German, "shape and color"), a discipline practiced at the German art and architecture school

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 200 ...

History

F+F was founded in 1971 by Bendicht Fivian, Peter Gygax, Peter Jenny, Hansjörg Mattmüller, Doris Stauffer, and

Serge Stauffer Serge Stauffer (born Werner Oscar Stauffer, 8 June 1929 – 17 September 1989) was a Swiss artist and art educator. He was one of the co-founders of the F+F Schule für experimentelle Gestaltung in Zurich and known for his German translations of th ...

. F+F was an alternative to the

Zurich University of the Arts Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK, german: Zürcher Hochschule der Künste) has approximately 2,500 students, which makes it the largest arts university in Switzerland. The university was established in 2007, following the merger between Zurich' ...

, which only offered classes in

applied arts The applied arts are all the arts that apply design and decoration to everyday and essentially practical objects in order to make them aesthetically pleasing."Applied art" in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Art''. Online edition. Oxford Univers ...

. Even though it was founded as a

trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific Industry (economics), industry. An industry tra ...

, since 2006 the school has been supported by a

non-profit foundation A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

. The founding members of the Board of Trustees included several notable Swiss artists, such as , , , and

Samir Samir (variantly spelled Sameer) is a male name found commonly in the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe. In Arabic, Samir () means holy, jovial, loyal or charming. In Albanian, it translates literally as “so good” but the connotation is clo ...

, among others. The school also gets donations from both the

City of Zürich A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

and the

canton of Zürich The canton of Zürich (german: Kanton Zürich ; rm, Chantun Turitg; french: Canton de Zurich; it, Canton Zurigo) is a Swiss canton in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton in the ...

. Before the school had any buildings, classes were taught at various locations around the city, including the

Jugendkulturhaus Dynamo (), also known as the , is a youth center in Zürich, Switzerland. The space hosts workshops, concerts, and plays. It also includes a restaurant and club. History The Drahtschmidli opened as a spa on the Limmat in 1772. When he inherited it, W ...

, which was the center of the political movements of the 1980s Zürich. Knowing they needed a larger location, F+F started the restoration of a warehouse built in 1949. This building also housed the art collection of the Swiss company

UBS UBS Group AG is a multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres ...

until they moved out in 2003. F+F has also used a painter's studio in the

Rote Fabrik Rote Fabrik (''Red Factory'') is a former factory in the Wollishofen neighbourhood of Zürich, Switzerland. It is now used as a music venue and cultural centre. It is so named because the buildings are made of red brick, but also because left- ...

, since it opened. The school also runs a

milk bar In Australia, a milk bar is a suburban local general store. Similar, but not identical, establishments include tuck shops, delicatessens or "delis", and corner shops or corner stores. Milk bars are traditionally a place where people buy new ...

and a

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...

workshop from this location.

Education

Art and media studies at F+F are nationally recognized higher professional qualification (Art Diploma).

Matura or its translated terms (''Mature'', ''Matur'', , , , , , ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

(completion of

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

) is not required for admission, meaning that the school offers an alternative to studying at a Swiss

hochschule ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

. Studies at F+F are practically oriented, but the student also acquires a sound theoretical knowledge of the subject. The F+F teachers are experienced, often internationally well-known personalities who are firmly established in their field. Each term, several of these experts from Switzerland and abroad are engaged as guest professors.

Notable alumni

Stephan Eicher Stephan Eicher (born 17 August 1960) is a Swiss singer. He sings in a variety of languages, including French, German, English, Italian, Swiss German and Romansh, sometimes using different languages in the same song. Eicher's success started ...

Klaudia Schifferle Klaudia Schifferle (born September 22, 1955, in Zürich) is a Swiss painter and musician. Schifferle is a previous member of the all women punk group Kleenex. As of 2021 she is in the band ONETWOTHREE with Madlaina Peer and Sara Schär. All three ...

*Muda Mathis from the band Les Reines prochaines * * *

Christian Philipp Müller Christian Philipp Müller (born 2 November 1957) is a Swiss artist. Education and early work Müller was born in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, and attended the Farbe und Form (F+F) in Zurich from 1982 to 1983, where he studied Fine Arts and graphi ...

* * Frantiček Klossner * * * Elena Könz * Simon Otto

References

Works cited

* * * * *

External links

*
Information about F+F School for Art and Design Zurich, Switzerland
in English {{Authority control Schools in Zürich