Sites

SIK-ISEA has three sites: The headquarters are in Zurich, the Antenne romande is in Lausanne and the Ufficio di contatto per la Svizzera italiana is in Lugano.

Headquarters, Zurich

Since 1993 the Institute has been based in Villa Bleuler, a listed monument built in 1885–88, at no. 32 Zollikerstrasse in the Riesbach district of Zurich. The villa was designed by Gottfried Semper’s pupil Alfred Friedrich Bluntschli for Hermann Bleuler and his wife Emma Dorothea Bleuler-Huber. Bleuler was a lieutenant general in the Swiss army and served on the Council of the Federal Polytechnikum (now ETH), which he chaired from 1888 until 1905. In 1902 the house passed to silk manufacturers Carl and Annie Abegg-Stockar. The heirs sold the villa to the City of Zurich in 1983, and SIK-ISEA was able to acquire it under a lease.

Contact and opening hours in Zurich

Antenne romande, Lausanne

Since 1988 the Institute has maintained a satellite office for francophone Switzerland at Lausanne University. One of the core tasks for this «Antenne romande» is to document artistic production in the west of the country. It runs its own research projects and holds conferences and seminars. Working closely with universities, it assists students with their papers and provides internships as a concrete form of practical training for aspiring art historians.

Contact and dirctions in Lausanne

Ufficio di contatto per la Svizzera italiana, Lugano

For the Italian-speaking region, the Institute opened an «Ufficio di contatto» in 2010, then at the Museo Vincenzo Vela in Ligornetto and since 2020 at the Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana in Lugano. Its principal task is to document artistic production in the south of the country and make this available through the online lexicon SIKART, which is accessible free of charge.

Contact and directions in Lugano