VVZ API is not affiliated with ETH Zurich. Data might be outdated or incorrect. Please view the official ETHZ Vorlesungsverzeichnis for binding information.
Architectural Design V-IX: Exforma (GD C. Ferrando Costansa / P. Garrido Arnaiz)
Last Updated: 2026-06-01 11:30:29
Abstract
EXFORMA explores the concepts of reuse, repurposing, and recycling. These processes serve as methods for reclaiming waste, challenging established production methods, and combating obsolescence by giving components and materials a second life. At the same time, they enable a new reading of the environments in which we live.
Objective
- Understand circular design principles (reuse, repurposing, recycling) and apply them in architectural practice. - Recognise reuse not only as a sustainability strategy but also its usage or relevance in other contemporary cultural expressions. - Gain awareness of material streams in the built environment and their ecological implications. - Gain hands-on experience in constructing 1:1 prototypes using scavenged parts. - Explore unconventional material junctions and experiment with physical assemblies. - Understand the technical and aesthetic challenges of building with non-standard, second-life components. - Acquire skills in 3D scanning and digital modeling of found components. - Experiment with AI as a generative and iterative design tool, integrating machine intelligence into architectural workflows. - Develop the ability to critically analyze the intersection of architecture, production, and consumption, merging cultural ambition with ecological responsibility. - Situate design work within contemporary debates on sustainability, obsolescence, and cultural practice. - Work collectively to build shared knowledge bases and engage with external experts (artists, material specialists, engineers, researchers) to broaden perspectives. - Practice communication, negotiation, and collaboration in group settings.
Content
EXFORMA invites to collectively reflect on how we can combine these circular strategies with more ambitious cultural goals that are firmly rooted in the history of architecture. By aligning them with diverse notions like ready-made, as-found, objet-trouvé, copy, sample, appropriation or decontextualisation, these ecologically sustainable processes resonate with other contemporary cultural practices. At the same time, they also reflect on the fusion between production and consumption. When all that will be used is what is already there, finding becomes a key task. The selection of these findings forces the architect to operate also as a curator. And the result of this selection becomes the narrative of materials that are appropriate, selected and locally available only at that exact moment. First comes the hunt and then the construction. The semester will begin with the construction of a 1:1 junction using scavenged parts, challenging us to shift how we perceive and read the city. From this starting point, students will analyse Swiss infrastructure, investigating where new reservoirs of building material might lie hidden in plain sight. Through these findings and 3D scans, the students will create a digital component catalogue that will serve as the starting point for their projects. The choice of the construction materials is the founding principle of the design process. Through hands-on prototyping, 3D scanning, and the use of AI as an iterative design tool, we will explore new futures for materials otherwise destined for a linear lifecycle. A series of workshops and conversations with artists, material and AI specialists, researchers, and engineers will introduce key concepts in circularity, construction, and ready-made design. Together, we will uncover new possibilities, and use architecture as a means to reimagine waste as a source of potential.
General Information
- Language
- German
- Levels
- BSC
- Frequency
- Semesterly recurring
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| exercise |
Entwurf V-IX: Exforma (GD C. Ferrando Costansa / P. Garrido Arnaiz)
Keine Lehrveranstaltung am 21/22.10.2025 (Seminarwoche).
|
|
16 h weekly |