Architekturprofessor Tom Avermaete erforscht, wie Städte entstehen, wachsen und sich verändern – und was wir daraus für die Stadtplanung der Zukunft lernen können. In seinem ERC-Projekt untersucht er, wie Genossenschaften, Verbände und andere gemeinschaftlich organisierte Institutionen Wohnraum, Kulturzentren und andere öffentliche Einrichtungen gemeinschaftlich planen, bauen und verwalten.
A series of Research Studios at the Chair of the History and Theory of Urban Design investigates the role of resources in the history of urban design. How are resources relied upon, managed, and produced by cities? How can historical experiences inform the challenges of today? How do Continua
Zürich wächst – aber braucht die Stadt dafür zusätzliche, neue Hochhäuser? Nein, sagt ETH‑Städtebauhistoriker Tom Avermaete. Sein gemeinsames Forschungsprojekt mit Architekturprofessor Jonathan Sergison zeigt: Mittelgrosse Gebäude und gezielte bauliche Verdichtung können das Wachstum auffangen. Aritkel in den ETH News
What would a non-sexist city look like? That was the question urban historian Dolores Hayden posed in 1980, during the transitional period between the second and third waves of feminism in the United States— a question that, more than forty years later, feels increasingly urgent across different parts Continua
Switzerland’s cultural landscapes – green pastures and flowering hay meadows – have been deeply shaped by resources (forests, pastures, and irrigation water) governed as commons (Allmende). In spite of radical changes to their institutional and infrastructural framework, the irrigation systems of Canton Valais remain grounded in an enduring Continua
A new core theory course for master’s students taught for the third time in spring 2025 argues that the list of ‘great’ cities needs to be rethought. Given the diversity of urbanisms around the world, it would be a disservice to limit one’s perspective to theoretical notions originating Continua
This 4-year project uniquely combines historical and design-led research to explore urban strategies for housing the anticipated 25% population increase that Zurich is facing in the next 20 years. A ‘retroactive analysis’ of the historical evolution of building codes, as well as of the specific urban types and Continua
The city of Zurich is a testament to the incredible power of urban codes and their influence on urban form. From the mid-nineteenth onwards, these codes, such as building laws, norms, standards, or even municipal constitutions, shaped and reshaped the city into what it is today. The research Continua
Much of what architecture students learn in the studio is «tacit knowledge.» They develop the skills and sensibilities of architectural and urban design with practice, often under the supervision of instructors and peers, not by studying textbooks. Yet, despite its importance, we know relatively little about how this Continua
Questo progetto di ricerca mira a sviluppare un nuovo metodo di scrittura della storia dell’architettura del secondo dopoguerra che rifletta le complessità della globalizzazione e del suo influsso sull’ambiente edificato. Il progetto studia un approccio storiografico alternativo in cui la storia viene organizzata in base a «zone di Continua
This research project sets out to develop a new methodology of crossing disciplinary perspectives with the goal of unlocking a multidisciplinary historiography of architecture. It is based on the conviction that something fundamentally new can be learned from the exchanges that architects have had with other disciplines.