This text shares our way of seeing and practicing architecture.
It tells the story of where we come from, how we work, and what matters to us.
I founded Valentine Bärg Architectures in 2010 in Geneva, after having lived abroad and traveled for much of my life.
The relationship we have with the places we inhabit lies at the heart of my journey: the sense of home, the different ways of living within a space across cultures. Spaces that accompany us, leave their mark on us, soothe us, carry us…
I am deeply interested in the impact places have on people’s lives, and I believe in their ability to spark joy.
Today, together with my team, we design environments that hold meaning for their occupants.
Each project is an opportunity to bring a unique vision to life, highlighting the individuality of those who dwell there.
We embrace a sensitive and authentic approach, where personal expression takes precedence over predefined aesthetic norms. For us, authenticity lies in discovering and enhancing what feels true to each person.
We conceive space as an imprint of identities and life stories.
Rather than following passing trends, we welcome the diversity of aesthetics, narratives, and emotions.
« As much as a piece of the world, the home is a world in itself: the one its owner carries in their mind and that it materializes »
Mona Chollet, Chez soi
Each project is approached in its full complexity, beginning with needs, uses, and feelings.
We strive to create spaces that speak not only to the eye, but also to the body and the heart.
Our architecture questions fixed norms. Rather than reproducing models, we reinvent ways of inhabiting, giving each intervention a particular meaning.
We also believe that architecture must engage in dialogue with nature.
Nature offers us coherence, complexity, and infinite resources. To draw inspiration from it is to respect places, their rhythms, their materials, and to inscribe our projects within them with humility.
« Places have a subtle influence on the mind. »
Virginia Woolf, Une chambre à soi
Architecture has the power to shape daily life, to create intimate and lasting landmarks.
To make a space one’s own is to bond with it, to recognize oneself in it, to find a form of freedom.
Every place we design becomes a singular ground for expression.
We love working with beauty — not as an end in itself, but as a vessel capable of evoking emotion. Sometimes slowly, sometimes instantly, but always enduring. Color speaks of mood, joy, calm, brilliance, or intimacy.
Material carries depth, sometimes history. It calls to the touch, to scent, and continues to live over time.
These sensory elements are never decorative: they extend meaning, support use, and inhabit the place.
« Nous façonnons nos bâtiments qui nous façonnent en retour. »
Alain de Botton, L’Architecture du bonheur
We are architects, interior architects, designers, and graphic artists.
Our approach is holistic: every scale of the project — from the design of a space to that of a pattern, a light, or a piece of furniture — matters. Every element exerts its influence.
Our practice is the result of rich experience, nourished by the diversity of projects carried out — from private homes to cultural institutions, from the smallest detail to the urban vision.
Each time, a precise, thoughtful gesture rooted in its context guides our work.
« Drawing is the essence of our architecture. Each line is a way of listening. »
