Approximations fo­cu­ses on Märkli's work from 1982 to the present. It tra­ces the pro­fes­sio­nal and po­li­ti­cal im­pact on Märkli's early work of Hans Jo­seph­son and the ar­chi­tect Ru­dolph Ol­giati. It also shows how the ele­men­tal, al­most »archaic« qua­lity of Märkli's work is in­flu­en­ced by a wide va­riety of sour­ces, in­clu­ding Greek an­ti­quity, the Re­nais­sance, the sim­ple farm­hou­ses of the Po Val­ley, Af­ri­can and Me­xi­can art, and Matisse's pain­tings. The book con­ta­ins an essay by Moh­sen Most­a­favi and an ex­ten­sive con­ver­sa­tion bet­ween Märkli and Mar­cel Meili.