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Focus Work Technology in Architecture (ITA)
Last Updated: 2026-06-03 00:07:23
Abstract
This focus work explores spatial computing and human-machine interaction in architecture and construction. Students develop an individual project around human-robot collaboration for large-scale construction, digital fabrication, augmented reality, computational design, and interactive fabrication, defining their own topic, method, and prototype through supervised experimentation.
Objective
Students will learn how to define a research question, review relevant references and precedent studies, and choose a methodological and technical approach suited to large-scale work. They will learn how to create spatial computing (AR, VR) workflows for architectural production, from design to fabrication. They could investigate craft-specific user interfaces that transfer tacit knowledge into computational and design models. Another direction is interactive fabrication, which facilitates collaboration between humans and machines. Additionally, students could develop new design workflows using emerging technologies such as AR, VR, sensing, and tracking. Students will use prototyping as their main method of inquiry, investigating concepts through making, interaction design, and user testing. They will apply this to architectural design research, technical experimentation in construction and fabrication workflows, or practices focused on perception, embodied interaction, craft, and robotic fabrication. They will learn to connect digital design environments with physical making and to define how humans and machines share tasks, information, and space throughout the design and building process. Throughout the semester, they will refine and present their work through working prototypes, interim reviews, and clear documentation, culminating in a project that demonstrates both conceptual depth and technical skill. Application information: https://aha.ethz.ch/education/focus-work
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- MSC
- Frequency
- Semesterly recurring
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| independent project |
Focus Work Technology in Architecture (ITA)
Independent work on a given or self-selected topic from the subject areas of at least two different institutes of the Department of Architecture (D-ARCH) (Art. 29).
Registration only after consultation with the lecturers!
|
No time listed | 180 h semesterly |
Offered In
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Focus Work (Realization in the respective fields of the institutes. Definition of topics by professors, in consultation with the students. The content may also refer to an elective course.)
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Field of Technology in Architecture (Definition of topics by professors, in consultation with the students (student's proposal / content of an elective course).)
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