Rufer-Eckmann, Claire, 1914-1974
Biographical Note
Claire Rufer-Eckmann (1914-1974) was born in Wabern, Switzerland and died in Bern. Before receiving her architecture degree in 1937, Rufer-Eckmann traveled to Sweden and Finland, studying under Gunnar Asplund and Alvar Aalto. She returned to Sweden in 1938 and lived there for two years eventually writing an unpublished report on her travels to Sweden and its architecture illustrated with ink drawings of plans and views of important buildings (present in collection).
1942 saw her return to Bern where she began to work with her husband Oskar Rufer, a developer and architect. They remained in practice together for 34 years. Their firm handled a wide variety of projects from shopping centers, theaters, schools, residential, and factories. Rufer-Eckmann specialized in design while her husband concentrated on management and development. Oskar Rufer closed the office upon Claire's death in 1974.
Rufer-Eckmann also participated in SAFFA 58 (The Swiss Exhibition for Women's Work) an exhibition held in Zurich, that focused on "women in the family, occupation and state." These exhibitions were organized and produced entirely by women and the exhibition buildings for SAFFA 58 were designed and built by Swiss women architects.
Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:
Claire Rufer-Eckmann Architectural Collection
Claire Rufer-Eckmann (1914-1974) was an architect in Bern, Switzerland. The collection consists of architecture class notes taken by Rufer-Eckmann at l'École Polytechnique Federale de Zurich, 1928-1935, original sketches and a report on her travels in Sweden and Finland in the late 1930s, and over forty working drawings created by her as part of SAFFA 58, an exhibition of women's roles in Switzerland.
Saffa 58 Architectural Drawings
The SAFFA was a Swiss fair exhibition on women in Zurich, Switzerland, that was built by Swiss women architects. The Saffa 58 Architectural Drawings consist of sixty-three drawings of the buildings for the 1958 fair, including the collaborative work of Claire Rufer-Eckmann, Beate Billeter, Verena Fuhrimann, Jetti Judin-Mutzenberg, and Annemarie Hubacher-Constam.