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Last Updated: 2026-06-03 00:14:00
Abstract
The Topology elective course series delves into the multifaceted nature of places. In the Spring Semester 2026, the focus will be on urban biodiversity. Students from D-ARCH and D-BAUG will examine how biodiversity can be fostered within urban environments and develop forward-looking concepts through the interplay of digital tools with urban and ecological systems.
Objective
This Elective Course offers architecture students a chance to deepen their spatial perception through a site-specific lens rooted in landscape architecture. Participants will engage with 3D point cloud technologies and other spatial sensing tools to analyze the complexity of urban landscapes. The aim is to develop new methods of reading, editing, and representing these entangled spaces across physical and digital layers.
Content
Course participants will become acquainted with working methods involving digital models produced through laser scanning and combined with different geospatial layers. They will learn how a laser-scanning survey is conducted, how raw data is processed and analyzed, and how point cloud models are edited. These models provide epistemic qualities to describe the spatial context. Building on this knowledge, students will document and analyze a case-study site to reveal its topological potentials and sensory qualities. This understanding will be deepened through point cloud modeling and mapping. In particular, a new, comprehensive sectional model of a topologically interesting site situation will be developed. Collected samples from the field will then be assembled and built into an interactive application in the Large-scale Virtualization and Modeling Lab (LVML). The software taught is open-source and can be installed on private laptops, facilitating applicability beyond the course.
Resources
Literature
Literature will be provided during the course. More information provided at: https://lvml.ethz.ch/
Learning Materials (Links)
- Main link
- Information
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- BSC , MSC
- Frequency
- Semesterly recurring
Examination
- Type
- ungraded semester performance
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| colloquium |
Topology
Teaching languages: English (German, French).
No course on 16.3.2026 (seminar week) and in the last two weeks of the semester.
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2 h weekly |
Offered In
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Electives (The entire course programs of ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich are open to the students to individual selection.)
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Core Courses (The core courses build on the basic courses and convey basic, broad knowledge in the core areas of landscape architecture in relation to design lessons. Some of the core courses are compulsory and some are freely selectable. Further details, in particular about taking these subjects, for performance assessments and for compensating for failed subjects, are regulated in Art. 27 and Art. 31 Paragraph 4.)
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