(b Solothurn, 1924). Swiss architect, theorist, designer and teacher. He established an independent practice in Solothurn in 1949. His early work, including schools, service, industrial and residential buildings, was designed on the basis of a free geometrical grid. From the early 1960s he introduced his own version of a construction system of modular blocks. Notable examples are the Sparkasse (1963), Kriegstetter, and the Höhere Technische Lehranstalt, Windisch, which consist of cubic blocks of glass and steel, with careful proportioning and detailing that reflect his study of Mies van der Rohe. The three steel building systems developed by Haller, differentiated as Mini, Midi and Maxi, are employed in several houses in the form of crystalline prisms and in the SBB-Ausbildungszentrum (1979–82) in Murten, which consists of integrated units set in parkland. Haller was also active in the field of research, developing quasi-utopian urban projects and the highly regarded USM Haller system of office and domestic furniture, which reflected his unitary conception of the architect as a planner, designer and engineer. Haller’s position as an exponent of a school characterized by a cool, technical perfection, seemingly opposed to nature, made him an influential figure in post-war Swiss modernism. He was the leader of the independent Solothurn school, and his influence can also be traced in the works of the Ticino school, particularly those of Livio Vacchini (b 1933). In 1977 he was appointed a professor at the Universität Fridericiana, Karlsruhe.

• Haller, Fritz
  • Switzerland, §II, 2: Architecture: Advent and development of Modernism, c 1900 and after