ETH News

The coloured Cube has been around for 50 years. Its inventor, Ernő Rubik, celebrated his 80th birthday this year. At the invitation of the ETH Department of Mathematics, he spent some time in Zurich to discuss the fascination of the Rubik’s Cube with researchers, students and children.

Mariam Issoufou is one of Africa’s most sought-after architects. She has held the position of Professor of Architecture Heritage and Sustainability at ETH Zurich since 2022.

Research areas at ETH Zurich span barriers in a wide variety of fields, including cell biology, drug delivery and spatial planning. Below, we look at examples from six different disciplines.

ETH doctoral student Rolf Imseng comes from a working class family. Together with ETH Vice-President Julia Dannath and ETH Professor Ursula Renold, he talks about the hurdles that his background brings with it. A conversation about social mobility in Switzerland.

At its meeting of 18 and 19 September 2024 and upon application of Joël Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed fifteen professors. The Board also awarded the title of "Professor of Practice" once.

ETH Zurich researchers have developed a fast, robot-assisted printing process for earth materials that does not require cement.

Artist Rosa Barba is constantly seeking new perspectives. At ETH, she works to bring art together with architecture, science and engineering.

At ETH Zurich, there is a room where the sun shines at the touch of a button; one hour it’s noon in the Sahara, the next it’s January in Berlin. Researchers use it to test newly developed building systems, components and materials.

Two years ago, Russia launched its war of aggression against Ukraine. One direct consequence of the conflict is the destruction of buildings and infrastructure. Now an exhibition in the ETH Main Building entitled “ETH with Ukraine” is showing how buildings, facilities and the environment in Ukraine can be protected or restored.

At its meeting of 6 and 7 December 2023 and upon application of Joël Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed twelve professors and awarded the title "Professor of Practice" once.  

Irma Radončić and Stefan Liniger are developing resource-friendly fabrication methods, which the two architects aim to employ in the creation of better and better concert spaces.

A doctoral researcher studying architecture at ETH Zurich is using 3D printing to produce lightweight insulation building components from cement-free mineral foams derived from recycled industrial waste. These could cut heating and cooling costs for buildings, and encourage more efficient use of construction materials.

ETH is offering a new continuing education programme in the serviceability and repairability of buildings and products. The CAS is backed by an architect, a product developer and a production technologist.

Günther Vogt is one of the most sought-after landscape architects of our time. He has opened the eyes of an entire generation of architects to public space. After 18 years as an ETH professor, he is now retiring.

In a practical teaching project, ETH students used materials from the demolished Huber Pavilions to construct a building in the spirit of the circular economy. The Re-Use Pavilion on the ETH Hönggerberg campus has now been honoured with an Arc Award.

At its meeting of 12 and 13 July 2023 and upon application of Joël Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed ten professors.

Karin Sander, ETH Zurich Professor of Architecture and Art, and Philip Ursprung, ETH Zurich Professor of the History of Art and Architecture, are curating the Swiss pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale. Their exhibition is called “Neighbours” and it explores the Swiss pavilion’s architectural relationship with the Venezuelan pavilion next door.

At its meeting of 8 and 9 March and upon application of Joël Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed 14 professors and awarded the title of professor five times. At the same time, the Board also bid farewell to three professors and thanked them for their service.

The grass-roots movement founded by architectural students and scientific staff has been awarded the Prix Meret Oppenheim in recognition of its engagement in driving fundamental change in the Department of Architecture of ETH Zurich.

Christophe Girot brought landscape architecture into the digital world and taught a generation of architects how to think on a larger scale. After more than 20 years as an ETH Professor, he is now retiring.

The creaking of the shimmering Morteratsch Glacier, the rumbling of ash-coloured dams and the steady sloshing of water in grey-blue Zurich reservoirs... In the “Serendipity” seminar series of Chair of Landscape Architecture Christophe Girot, researchers and students leave the seminar room to explore how places sound and how they can be explored by ear. They do this using no more than a microphone and an analogue camera.

Autonomous virtual humans that move and behave naturally are Siyu Tang’s vision. One area from which the computer scientist draws inspiration are our behavioural patterns. Collaboration with architects and surgeons provides further input – and it also reveals the enormous potential of virtual people.

Much controversy surrounds the Neugasse project in the city Zurich. Spatial development scientist Sibylle Wälty shows how this area could contribute to alleviating the housing shortage: by building more densely than currently planned.

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder – yet how do we find consensus on a shared amenity such as a neighbourhood? We took a stroll with two ETH architects to discover how they see their role as mediators between the conflicting priorities of urban consolidation, functionalism and aesthetics.

An exhibition in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, features ETH Zurich architects who show their vision of utopia - a vertical city built by drones, developed in 2012. Along with computer scientists, they have now populated the structure with autonomous avatars.

After 15 years as Professor of Architecture and Construction, Annette Spiro recently retired to become professor emerita. Her lectures and publications inspired a whole generation of architecture students at ETH Zurich.

Momoyo Kaijima, Professor of Architectural Behaviorology at ETH Zurich, and her partner Yoshiharu Tsukamoto have been honoured with this year’s Wolf Prize for their ethnographically inspired approach to architecture. According to the jury, the work produced by their studio, Atelier Bow-Wow, is characterised by a great sensitivity towards local contexts and the social impact of architecture.

"Where the future begins" is the name of ETH Zurich's new image film. Based on six projects, it provides a look behind the scenes and highlights how ETH Zurich is tackling the big questions. The new film was produced by Seed, the same agency that realised the successful ETH trailer "Ready?" five years ago.

From a technological and economic perspective, the Swiss energy system could be climate-neutral by 2050. There are various challenges when it comes to implementation, however. Deployment of photovoltaics, for example, would have to increase at a faster rate. Academia and industry discussed possible energy scenarios at ETH Zurich.

With the help of artificial intelligence and four collaborative robots, researchers at ETH Zurich are designing and fabricating a 22.5-metre-tall green architectural sculpture.

Collaboration between talented members of multidisciplinary teams provides the best foundation for innovative, useful and trustworthy applications of artificial intelligence. This approach has been demonstrated at a joint event by ETH Entrepreneur Club and the ETH AI Center.

ETH fellow Marianna Charitonidou examines the influence of social changes on architecture. She cites the experience of viewing the urban landscape while driving a car as an example.

3D printing can be used to build load-bearing concrete structures that require significantly less material and no steel reinforcement or mortar. ETH architects and engineers from the Block Research Group in collaboration with Zaha Hadid Architects and other partners from industry showed how this works with a footbridge in Venice.

The 23-metre-high tower made of 3D-printed columns is to become a cultural site in Mulegns, a village on the Julier Pass with just 16 inhabitants. The structure is being planned by ETH architects and engineers. Construction is scheduled to start in spring 2022 with robots printing the tower’s components on site.

A cultural landscape reflects the combined activity of nature and humans. Where has the equilibrium of this union been lost? And how can we restore the balance? 

ETH Zurich is launching a new Centre for Augmented Computational Design in Architecture, Engineering and Construction, known as Design++. 22 professorships from multiple departments are joining forces to develop digitally augmented design tools with a view to improving the efficiency and sustainability of construction.

ETH Professor Emeritus Anne Lacaton and her partner Jean-Philippe Vassal have received this year’s Pritzker Prize for their social and sustainable architecture. The prize is regarded as the Nobel Prize of the architecture world. ETH celebrated this success on Wednesday with a virtual event of honour, which was attended by ETH President Joël Mesot as well as the two prize winners.

Anne Lacaton, Emeritus Professor of Architecture and Design at ETH Zurich, and her partner Jean-Philippe Vassal have received the most prestigious international architecture prize for their sustainable and social approach to building design.

Students at ETH Zurich used innovative technology to create an extremely lightweight and filigree pavilion using bamboo. The project demonstrates the possibilities of digital fabrication combined with natural construction materials.

Together with industry partners, researchers at ETH Zurich have developed new construction methods for building a doubly curved concrete roof. Now it is complete and under the open sky for the first time.

Ten years ago, ETH took the bold step of establishing a presence abroad in the form of its very own research centre. This year, the Singapore-ETH Centre launched its third research programme – and new insights are already making their way back to Switzerland.

The Inga hope a university will keep their indigenous heritage alive, safeguard the natural habitat of the Colombian rainforest and give the younger generation a future. Anne Lacaton, Professor of Architecture and Design, spent two semesters supporting the project with her students.

The technology pioneered by the ETH spin-off incon.ai allows blocks to be positioned with pinpoint accuracy, creating structures with aesthetic designs and augmented acoustics.

What happens when COVID-19 means architecture students have to get by without a workshop, electrical engineers without high-voltage laboratories and environmental scientists without field trips.

“It’s quiet in Singapore, it’s cooler – and you can make remarkable scientific findings right now,” says Gerhard Schmitt, Director of the SEC. The coronavirus crisis has turned the megacity into a giant research lab.

From autumn, ETH Zurich will offer a Master’s programme in Landscape Architecture – a first for a Swiss university. The demand for landscape architects is greater than ever, say professors Christoph Girot and Teresa Galí-Izard.

ETH Meets Davos during the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2020 with  "Rethinking Creativity" - an interactive exhibition featuring five new prototypes that  show how creativity plays an essential role in scientific and technological innovation.

Energy systems, cryptography and computer-aided simulation; interactions between people, animals and landscape, investigation of biosystems from the human brain to the nanometer scale: the incoming professors work in a wide range of cutting-edge research fields. Three ETH professors will soon leave the university.

At the sixth Times Higher Education (THE) World Academic Summit, experts from the research community and higher education explored and reflected on how digitalisation is changing higher education and on nurturing of talent. ETH Zurich hosted the conference.

A solar façade developed at ETH Zurich combines electricity production with intelligent shading to achieve optimal energy balance.

Architect and ETH Professor Elli Mosayebi is developing new forms of housing. Over the course of one year, she’s testing a small home with a flexible floor plan on ETH’s Hönggerberg campus.

Notre Dame should not be rebuilt, argue Guillaume Habert and Alice Hertzog. In times of climate change and in light of the current religious landscape its reconstruction is no longer a priority.

ETH spin-off Archilyse promises nothing less than the “world’s most comprehensive architecture analysis” on its website. The young entrepreneurs are attracting a lot of interest in the real estate sector.

State-of-the-art technology means citizens can become more involved in urban development. Gerhard Schmitt speaks of a move from “smart” to “responsive” cities.

DFAB HOUSE has officially opened today on the NEST building of Empa and Eawag in Dübendorf. It is the world's first inhabited "house" that was not only digitally planned, but also – with the help of robots and 3D printers – built largely digitally. The construction technologies were developed by ETH Zurich researchers in collaboration with industrial partners.

ETH Zurich is fostering responsible air travel to help resolve the conflict between international research activities and climate protection. ETH units worked together to set targets for reducing flight-related CO₂ emissions.

ETH Zurich rethinks design in Davos during the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting. Exhibiting cutting-edge materials and technologies, researchers show how innovative design can shape industries, economies, and ultimately the future.

The first architectural projects for Zurich’s central university district have been revealed: The designs for the "USZ Kernareal" come from Christ & Gantenbein, those for the FORUM UZH from Herzog & de Meuron.

ETH technology that flew to Mars, rubber duckies that travelled around Duckietown in self-driving taxis and moles that warn of tumours – for ETH, 2018 was marked by innovative flair and extraordinary research. We take a look back.

With just the press of a button, ETH researchers knit a textile that serves as the primary shaping element for curved concrete shells. Now they have used the new technology to create a five-tonne concrete structure for an exhibition in Mexico City.

Kees Christiaanse is one of the most renowned urban planners. After 15 years as a professor at ETH Zurich, he is retiring from teaching duties this summer, and will be made an emeritus professor. But not much will change as a result, he says. Even after stepping down from ETH, he intends to continue pursuing his global vision of an open city.

Designed on a computer and built with the help of robots: ETH students studying for the MAS in Architecture and Digital Fabrication have built a wooden pergola to turn the sun-baked terrace at the Istituto Svizzero in Rome into a pleasant, shady spot. Their project demonstrates the potential that digital fabrication holds for wooden buildings.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have fabricated an 80 m2 lightweight concrete slab at the DFAB House, making it the world’s first full-scale architectural project to use 3D sand printing for its formwork.

Students from the Institute of Landscape Architecture are planning some natural ways to cool the heat-afflicted metropolis of Singapore. Their testing ground is a disused railway line reclaimed by nature and converted into a tropical recreation area.

At its meeting of 4/5 July 2018 and upon application of the President of ETH Zurich, Professor Lino Guzzella, the ETH Board appointed 9 professors.

Extraordinary and economical: civil engineer and architect Philippe Block develops novel ways of building for the architecture of tomorrow. He has now been awarded the Rössler Prize for his work.

Last Saturday, the 16th International Architecture Biennale in Venice opened with a great success for ETH participants. The Swiss Pavilion, designed by a team of four young ETH architects, received the Golden Lion.

The 16th International Architecture Exhibition (Biennale) in Venice gets underway on Saturday. A number of architects associated with ETH submitted contributions to the Biennale, including the four next-generation academics who designed the Swiss pavilion. Alessandro Bosshard and Matthew van der Ploeg offer insights into their project ‘Svizzera 240: House Tour’.

Researchers from ETH Zurich are using a new method for digital timber construction in a real project for the first time. The load-bearing timber modules, which are prefabricated by robots, will be assembled on the top two floors at the DFAB HOUSE construction site.

Gerhard Schmitt, ETH Professor of Information Architecture, was instrumental in the development of ETH’s international network – both as founding director of the ETH hub in Singapore and as ETH’s first head of international relations. After handing over this role to Gisbert Schneider, Schmitt is now heading up the Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC) once again.

In response to the proposals received from the President of ETH Zurich, Professor Lino Guzzella, the ETH Board resolved at its meeting of 7/8 March 2018 to appoint a total of eight professors and award the title of professor to three individuals; it also acknowledged the resignation of 13 professors and thanked them for their services.

Digital fabrication techniques for buildings and breathtaking concrete roofs, a heart made of silicone, and a new degree programme in medicine; in 2017, teaching and research at ETH Zurich were characterised by new ventures and a pioneering spirit.

Science has to prove its relevance to society. ETH Zurich is therefore expanding its blog activities: in future, the Zukunftsblog will cover digitalisation and health alongside the topic of sustainability.

Even when studying to be an architect, designing attractive buildings wasn’t satisfying enough for Estefania Tapias. Today she is an expert in urbanisation and climate change, specialising in the research of outdoor thermal comfort.

In response to the proposals received from the President of ETH Zurich, Professor Lino Guzzella, the ETH Board resolved to appoint 10 professors.

Cities both drive climate change and suffer its effects. As havens of innovation, however, they also have the ability to change. The ETH Klimarunde invites residents to discuss challenges and solutions for cities experiencing climate change.

Earth is an ideal building material: it’s low-cost, saves resources and regulates indoor climates. What's more, earth is readily available in the places where people build. Yet the construction potential of earth remains undervalued.

ETH Meets Hong Kong in a festival dedicated to celebrating art and culture, science and technology. Shifting the dialogue away from chocolate and cheese, toward how technology will change the way we think about art or how to design sustainable and smart cities.

Researchers from ETH Zurich have built a prototype of an ultra-thin, curved concrete roof using innovative digital design and fabrication methods. The tested novel formwork system will be used in an actual construction project for the first time next year.

At the Empa and Eawag NEST building in Dübendorf, eight ETH Zurich professors are collaborating with business partners to build the three-storey DFAB HOUSE. It is the first house in the world to be designed, planned and built using predominantly digital processes.

Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani hasn't just written definitive reference works on urban planning and shaped a generation of ETH architects; he has also run numerous projects of his own. Now, the charismatic Chair for the History of Urban Design is about to retire.  

The ETH Board appointed 15 new professors upon application of ETH President Lino Guzzella.

Researchers at ETH Zurich’s Department of Architecture (D-ARCH) have developed a concrete floor system that does not require steel reinforcement and is 70 percent lighter than conventional concrete floors. Their design was inspired by historical construction principles.

The ETH Board appointed three new professors and awarded the title of Professor to five recipients upon application of ETH President Lino Guzzella

Researchers in the Singapore-ETH Centre’s Future Cities Laboratory developed a method to quantify ecosystem services of street trees. Using nearly 100,000 images from Google Street View, the study helps further understanding on how green spaces contribute to urban sustainability.

ETH Zurich is presenting its latest research findings in a public exhibition at the World Economic Forum 2017. ETH’s début WEF appearance was launched with a meeting with politicians, public authorities and businesspeople from the canton of Grisons.

Upon application of ETH President Lino Guzzella the ETH Board appointed a total of eight professors and awarded the title of professor to one individual.

ETH researchers have received this year’s Swiss Technology Award for their technology “Mesh Mould”, winning the most important Swiss prize for innovation and technology transfer in the “Inventors” category.

The Arch_Tec_Lab demonstrates how digitisation can contribute to resource-efficient, compact and emissions-free construction. Six professors from ETH Zurich have pooled their research approaches and developed a prototype of the innovative building together.

Thirty architecture students from ETH Zurich’s Studio Tom Emerson have made their first venture into a large-scale project. After ten months of intensive work, the Pavilion of Reflections is ready on time for the opening of the Manifesta 11 European Biennial of Contemporary Art in Zurich.

The ETH Board has appointed 18 professors at ETH Zurich in accordance with the application submitted by ETH Zurich President Lino Guzzella.

ETH Zurich will present a whole range of projects at this year’s International Architecture Exhibition in Venice. At the invitation of curator Alejandro Aravena, several project groups in which ETH is involved will present their contributions in the main exhibition, exhibit at national pavilions and play an active role in the supporting programme.

The ETH Board has appointed ten professors at ETH Zurich in accordance with the application submitted by ETH Zurich President Lino Guzzella.

It is not too often that Cairo’s informal settlements are hosted at an international architecture event, especially not as a positive case. This year, the “informal” area of Ard-El-Lewa is prominently featured at the Bi-City Biennale for Urban Development and Architecture in Shenzhen, in the Radical Urbanism section.

Urbanisation is transforming the world. In an interview with Marcel Meili, ETH Professor of Architecture and Design, and Christian Schmid, Deputy Head of Network City and Landscape, the two explain why cities around the world are expanding and what is special about the urban landscape in Switzerland.

The recent completion of construction, and first month of successful operation of the 3for2@UWCSEA demonstration project by ETH Zurich turns the page in developing what could be Singapore’s most energy-efficient office by 2018.

The rate of urbanisation in recent years has been astonishing. While present cities are highly unsustainable, they offer great opportunities for using resources more efficiently. The rapid growth and the huge environmental challenges account for the growing interest shown by universities in cities: the New Urban Science.

The Zurich City University District should be developed into a knowledge and health care cluster. For their master's theses in the Department of Architecture, ETH Zurich students developed scenarios outlining what an urban campus in the heart of the city of Zurich could look like.

The Biennale for Urban Development and Architecture in Shenzhen opened on 4 December 2015. Two architecture professors from ETH Zurich are co-curators, and the university is making several contributions to the exhibition. In addition, ETH students are working on new projects with colleagues from China, at a temporary school being established for that purpose.

Upon application of the President of ETH Zurich, Professor Lino Guzzella, at its meeting of 23/24 September 2015 the ETH-Board appointed 12 individuals as professors.