Chair of the History and Theory of Urban Design

For next semester’s diploma studio, we are happy to be collaborating with the team of Prof. Mariam Issoufou’s Chair of Architecture Heritage and Sustainability on museums and their colonial entanglements. The studio will revolve around an understanding of museums not merely as exhibition spaces but as wider museal infrastructures that are firmly rooted in urban culture. Together with the students, we will explore the potential of this infrastructure not only in the light of current-day demands of repatriation of displaced objects but also of current-day challenges such as the urban housing crisis. You can find more information on the registration website: https://lnkd.in/eTg4Z-Dh Image: 1965, The Medea sarcaphagus is being delivered. Basel, Museum of Antiquities.

We are happy to announce the arrival of our new colleague María Novas Ferradás, who will be working as a Senior Lecturer and Scientific Researcher at the Chair of History and Theory of Urban Design at the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture (gta) at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. María Novas Ferradás is an architect and researcher specialised in exploring the intersections of social and political history and cultural studies with the built environment. She earned a master’s degree in Architecture from the Universidade da Coruña in Galicia, Spain, and holds additional master’s degrees in Applied Research in Gender Studies (UJI) and Urban Regeneration (USC). Her Ph.D. in Architecture from the Universidad de Sevilla analyses the contribution of two women’s organisations and some of the first women architecture graduates in the Netherlands to post-war housing design. With teaching experience at TU Delft and a track record of being invited as a lecturer at international universities and organisations, Novas has published and edited articles and books that delve into how feminist movements have shaped architecture and urban design. Her book Arquitectura y género: una introducción posible (Melusina, 2021) received recognition at the 16th Spanish Architecture and Urbanism Biennial in the Research and Dissemination category. Welcome to the team, María!

Since 2023, our Research Studio delves into the topic of Swiss Coloniality, focusing on the entanglements of the architectural and urban histories of Switzerland and the history of global colonialism. We will offer a new edition of the course next semester, Spring 2025. Official enrollment is due ultimately by Wednesday 5 February, but we encourage interested students to contact us in advance to express their interest and/or to ask for more information. More information here: https://lnkd.in/eixGiBnA The Fachsemester (Subject Semester or Research Studio) is a course of 14 credits equivalent to a design studio and is open to students enrolled in the Master’s program (not Bachelor’s). Students can only do one Fachsemester during their program. We offer the course every Spring Semester. An online exhibition showcasing some of the earlier student work, can be accessed here: https://lnkd.in/esGRCjPV #urbandesign #history #architecture #swisscoloniality #avermaete #eth #darch #fachsemester

The online exhibition ‘Swiss Coloniality and Its Industrial Architectures’ is now online on our repository website. It shows a selection of the student projects from the Fachsemester of Autumn Semester 2023. Students tried to identify moments where Switzerland was involved in the history of global colonialism and how this entanglement is indirectly readable in the architectural and urban histories of Switzerland. Whether the chocolate or textile industry shapes the built environment through factories or warehouses, or whether architecture is exported in the form of technology, expertise or building material – the role of industry is an obvious starting point to speak of ‘Swiss Coloniality’. We kindly invite you to visit the exhibition on the repository: https://lnkd.in/esGRCjPV   Next semester, we will be offering a new edition of the course. Information here: https://lnkd.in/eixGiBnA   Image: Screenshot from the repository exhibition   #historyofurbandesign #architecture #ethz #darch #avermaete #exhibition #repository #seminar #research #swisscoloniality #industrialarchitecture

Colloquium “Urban Codes and Urban Forms: The Case of Zurich” USI Accademia di architettura Mendrisio and ETH Zurich 27 November 2024 13:30 – 18:00 ETH Center, Building CLA, Room J1 Full Program: Opening 13.30 - 13.40 General introduction to the SNSF project by Jonathan Sergison 13:40 - 13.50 General introduction to the colloquium by Tom Avermaete Session 1: Urban codes and urban forms 13:50 - 14.00 Overview of relevant topics and questions for discussion by Sanna Kattenbeck 14.00 - 14.20 Natalia Voroshilova and Giulio Galasso "Islands on the Border: The Urbanism of Arealüberbauung" 14.20 - 14.40 Tanja Herdt "Revisiting Density: How CIAM functionalist ideas on living and recreation shaped Zurich’s first planning and zoning law and its postwar housing expansions" 14.40 - 15.00 Cornel Lewicki "Anguish of Exactness: The influence of SIA 416 in shaping housing projects" 15.00 - 15.20 Nitin Bathla and Norman Backhaus "Nocturnal Imaginaries and urban atmospheres: From the City of Lights to Luminance degrowth" 15.20 – 15.50 Panel discussion with all speakers, moderated by Sanna Kattenbeck Break Session 2: Codes and their limits 16.10 - 16.20 Overview of relevant topics and questions for discussion by Giulia Scotto 16.20 – 16.40 Henriette Lutz Bahnareal "Treffpunkt der offenen Drogenszene und angesagter Freizeitort: Wie ein Rechtsstreit die jüngere Geschichte des Oberen Letten prägte" 16.40 - 17.00 Stefan Kurath and Caspar Schärer "Building Laws Work. But How?" 17.00 - 17.20 Tanguy Auffret Postel "City of Watts" 17.20 - 17.50 Panel discussion with all speakers, moderated by Giulia Scotto Closing 17.50 - 18.00 Summary of the colloquium by Tom Avermaete and Jonathan Sergison Drinks

Guest lecture by Kohei Saito. On 7 November, Kohei Saito will be delivering a guest lecture entitled “Capital in the Antrophocene - How can we, with Marx, learn from pre-capitalist and non-Western societies to imagine an architecture of degrowth?” in the context of Prof. Tom Avermaete’s course ‘‘Postcolonial Theory and Architecture: Methodological Contemplations and Practical Implications.’ Kohei Saito is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tokyo and received his Ph.D. from Humboldt University in Berlin. His work offers a critical Marxist perspective of ecology and political economy. Join us in room HIL E6, 17:45-18:30. Kohei Saito will also be giving a public lecture on Wednesday 6 November, 2024 from 18:00-20:00 in HIL E1 as part of the IEA “Practice what we teach?” lecture series. Image source: Schweizerhalle industrial plants, Comet Photo AG (Zürich).

Doctoral Course - Postcolonial Theory and Architecture: Methodological Contemplations and Practical Implications The central question of this seminar is: what can postcolonial theories and methodologies bring to the historiography of architecture and the city? This question will not be answered ex abstracto, but rather by looking at a concrete practice of history writing by the scholar-lecturer of this seminar. Personal reflections and experiences will be used as a starting point for a broader dialogue with participants on the value of postcolonial theory for the field of architectural historiography. The course will take place on Thursdays from 17:45 to 18:30 in room HIL F 10.3 by Prof. dr. Tom Avermaete. More information on our website: https://lnkd.in/efD4ZHgR Image: Quit india movement, launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi, demanding an end to British rule in India. 1942-1945.

TODAY & TOMORROW On 3-4 October, the Baukultur conference “Back to the future” will take place at Palazzo Canavee, Mendrisio (USI-ARC) and at the Italian Consulate General in Lugano.   How will we live together in the future? Is utopia still possible? Imagination has been exhausted by successive crises, constant innovation and immediate returns on investment. The Baukultur conference and the fifth edition of the Biennale Svizzera del Territorio are an appeal to the imagination. A call to re-appropriate the future and to jointly design alternatives to the slow pace of the present. The speakers, experts from various fields, will express themselves in various discussion formats such as lectures, panel discussions, and public talks. Political representatives from Ticino will also be present.   Pecha Kucha by Giulia Scotto on October 3, 18:00. Keynote lecture by Tom Avermaete on October 4, 11:00. Image credits: Zurich, Neumarkt 4, historical city model in the "Haus zum Rech", "Zurich around 1800", guided tour of the Old Town. Photographed by Markus J. Hässig in 1983.

Now on display in the foyer of the HIL building at ETH Hönggerberg: the annual 'Grundlagen' exhibition. As an introduction to the field of history and theory of urban design, all first-year students investigate an urban element, and present it in the form of a diptych: an axonometric drawing and analytical text. This year the focus was on vitrines, glass-panelled cabinets or display cases. As part of shop windows and storefronts, these vitrines mediate between the public realm and commercial or cultural venues. They present consumer goods, objects of interest, exhibition artifacts and the like to passers-by, inscribing them in the urban setting. The vitrine is a characteristic element in the public space of the city, drawing the thin and often amorphous line between public and private realms, (re)presenting cultural, political, social, and commercial facets of city life. The exhibition is on display until 27 September. Tutors: Tom Avermaete, Hans Teerds, Luca Can, Pierre Eichmeyer, Melanie Kofler, Mona Lecoultre. Vitrinen: A Zurich Lexicon. Exhibition, HIL Building, 2024 by Pierre Eichmeyer, Melanie Kofler, and Jonas Pfändler. Image credits: Jonas Pfändler.

The course "A Global History of Urban Design I", together with "A Global History of Urban Design II" that will be offered in FS 2025, provides an overview of the development of cities and urban design from the earliest known settlements until today. It specifically challenges students to value this history on a broader, global scale, highlighting cross-cultural developments. The course aims to extend this field of knowledge beyond the focus on urban developments in Europe and North America, taking into account the various instances of cultural cross-fertilization that build up a global history of cities and urban design. From the earliest human settlements in India, Turkey and the Near East, the survey examines the traditional, pre-modern and modern concepts that have historically had a bearing on urban development, up to and including the dynamic growth of contemporary cities in Asia and Africa. Image: Sienna. Palio di Siena. Twice a year, 2 July, 16 August.