We propose to consider the city as a garden, albeit not one made of soil rich in organic matter, but one made of concrete, this material so emblematic of Swiss architecture and therefore of Swiss cities. What are the conditions that permit life to appear in an otherwise mineral, barren urban environment? Zürich will be taken as a case study to explore the potential of this urban nature.

La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle in the canton of Neufchâtel have developed over time a specific type of urbanism: the “urbanisme horloger.” Craft, patience, time, and care have shaped not only the towns but also their surroundings, that we propose to describe here as a “paysage horloger”: a tranquil landscape, where meticulous maintenance have allowed the emergence of a timeless landscape.

studio rhizomesDuring this semester, we will investigate the metaphor of the rhizomes. This methodology will be applied to the study of large-scale landscape and the planning of site-specific ecological, climatic and community-based corridors. This work will be developed thanks to the tools of large-scale cartography (GIS), model-making, ecological sections and speculative narratives.

In healthy ecosystems there is not such a thing as waste, as every discarded component get digested, transformed, or reused. Is this also an option for places resulting of the accumulation of our anthropogenic wastes? Which ecologies might emerge from a site as the Pila landfill in Fribourg?

This course aims to raise awareness about the necessity to look at architectural history through a non-normative lens. The participants will be invited to explore the topic of queer gardens via the review of exemplary case studies. We will discuss how the shape of those gardens have been influenced by their owner’s personality and argue if such spaces share a common denominator.