In HS21 in Falera, we will investigate the question of whether, in our time of individual action and unrestricted access to materials, places can emerge that are able to inspire us.

In the design studio, we expose ourselves to the elements and ask how architecture can arise from the intense sensual experience of one of the four elements. In so doing, it provokes a preoccupation with simple constructive solutions and a reflection on the hard climatic boundary between interior and exterior space.

In the design studio FOREVER YOUNG, we will work on the transformation of a neighbourhood in the village of Buchs, located between the historic village core and the commuter train station.

Online communication has transformed how people connect, enabling digital communities to form around shared values and interests. While these communities primarily exist online, many also seek physical spaces to meet. The studio explores online culture sharing and how to design physical spaces that represent these communities and give them a presence in the city of Zurich.

Regenerative construction in post-fire Attica, GreeceIn August 2024, wildfires swept through the Varnavas region north of Athens, Greece, destroying approximately 5,000 hectares of land within the Municipality of Marathon alone.

Architectural behaviorology focuses on creating better accessibility to local resources. Urban-rural commons is defined as a notion of commons in rural and urban realms. In HS2020, we focus on designing architecture for fruit culture in Valais. Students will examine ethnographic approach by actor network drawings and propose an project for Urban-rural commons through drawing and models.

The students have the opportunity to examine rooms that are characterized by architectural elements. We conduct this search throughout the semester and break it down into three phases: space, structure, and whole. We will delve deeply into architectural space and the materialized elements that define that space.

The architecture of the city lies between the buildings. Too complex in nature, form and design to be understood as a single space, ground has become the network of mobility that defines the contemporary city. This semester, earth works will be the primer for a new experimental garden prepared with the Crowther Lab which, will in turn, lead to actions across Zurich’s greatest continuous interior.

We are used to designing architecture from a supposedly objective perspective. With immersive technologies, we overcome this distance, expand our perception and dive directly into the space to be designed. In doing so, we develop an altered understanding of space, in which we digitally design architecture and its construction and simultaneously move within it.

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Together with the Block Research Group, our key focus concerns the load-bearing structure, which accounts for around 75% of the gray energy of any high-rise. Equipped with a catalog of building structures in various materials, we will search for efficient, lightweight constructions in order to significantly reduce the gray energy and the CO2 footprint.

We will concentrate on the dual function of living and working, taking as an example existing office buildings in Zurich earmarked to be partially transformed and expanded into apartment complexes.Our urban-planning, architectural, functional and constructional interests focus on the combination of occupancies in the same building and on the suitability of such new apartments for home-office work.

“[...] we have to admit to the fact that Hong Kong was invented. It was one of the most marvelous inventions in human history. Hong Kong has been a work of fiction from its very beginning.”– Dung Kai-Cheung, Atlas: The Archeology of an Imaginary City (2017)

The students have the opportunity to examine spaces that are shaped by architectural elements. We carry out this search throughout the semester and divide it into three phases: space, structure and whole. We will delve deeply into the architectural space and the materialized elements that define that space.

This semester, we will, within ETH’s portfolio, find a way to intervene in existing buildings using the short stories of Lydia Davis as a starting point. We want to explore the potential of atmospheric and strong architectural interventions while working with sketches, models, writing and drawing.

This course offers students the opportunity to understand and navigate the process of conceptualizing and designing an entire exhibition, from initial ideas to final implementation. Beyond practical exhibition design, the course also delves into the theoretical considerations that shape the impact of architectural representation.

This studio allows students to be part of an international movement while learning how to communicate their message effectively, expanding their reach outside the architecture world. Beyond time-based content production and dissemination, the studio delves into the theoretical considerations of the agency of architects. It treats design as a medium of knowledge transfer on architecture beyond the

As of the previous semester, this studio has become part of HouseEurope!, a European Citizens’ Initiative that advocates for legislative change on a European level. As an initiative, our aim is to boost the renovation of existing buildings and, by doing so, prevent their demolition driven by speculation.

The design studio will be dedicated to HouseEurope! a political initiative with the goal of implementing a legislation on a European level. HouseEurope! addresses the challenges of the existing building stock, which currently contributes to financial speculation and neglects its potential to support the social-ecological transformation.

Today, we are confronted with a new reality, characterized by a radical change that is happening — now. But how do we, as individuals and a profession, face the challenges of the current environmental crisis within the “given” economical, political and social system? How to manage climate change and take care of landscape and nature while our cities are still growing?