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Subject Semester (Fachsemester) HS20 in the Field of History and Theory in Architecture (Avermaete)
Last Updated: 2026-02-05 15:36:00
Abstract
Cities have always been places of common resources and practices. While designing and constructing the architecture of the city, architects, urban designers, builders, inhabitants have had to engage with a pool of common resources: inherited common-pool resources (water, nature, air); material common-pool resources (clay, brick, stone, wood) and immaterial common-pool resources (craft, knowledge).
Objective
The subject semester or "Ffachsemester" has two objectives. First, is to develop an ‘Archeology’ of Zürich Commons. In this part, the work of the urban historian or theoretician is understood as an archeological venture: the city will be regarded as an enigma that needs to be deciphered. The result will be a systematic, analytical account of how the architecture of the city has time-and-time-again provided a framework for commoning, how common resources manifest themselves, and how, as urban figures, they impact the fabric of cities. Second, is to develop an ‘Ecology’ of Zürich commons. In this part the question of how the commons are experienced, practiced and developed in the city of Zürich until today is scrutinized. Students will probe into the city to analyze the character and role of common pool resources (green space, open space, water, materials, typologies, etc…) and the way that the citizens of Zürich have engaged, and are engaging, with them.
Content
Cities have always been places of common resources and common practices. While designing and constructing the architecture of the city, architects, urban designers, builders, and inhabitants have had to engage with a pool of common resources in particular places and geographies: inherited common-pool resources (water, nature, air); material common-pool resources (clay, brick, stone, wood); and immaterial common-pool resources (craft, knowledge). This understanding of the city, as related to common resources and practices, has gained renewed attention, as neoliberalism replaces ever-shrinking welfare structures, and global urbanisation is accompanied by rising inequality. It is not only architects and urban designers who are again becoming interested in alternative principles of pooling common resources, but also political circles and society at large. Some of these issues – generally called ‘the commons’ – have also received growing academic attention in the last decades, in the fields of critical urban studies, urban history, urban geography and the social sciences. This fachsemester probes into the rich history of ‘the commons’ in the city of Zürich, understood from an architectural, spatial and material perspective. It will explore how common practices and resources have affected the architecture of the city, and conversely how the built environment has structured common practices and facilitated access to common resources. The research will unlock an alternative reading of the urban and architectural qualities of the built environment of the city.
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- MSC
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Registration & Places
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| independent project |
Subject Semester (Fachsemester) HS20 in the Field of History and Theory in Architecture (Avermaete)
Permission from lecturers required for all students.
Self dependent work.
Enrolment in agreement with the chair only.
Meetings as required and in consultation with the chair.
|
|
400 h semesterly |