ETH News

Southern Europe is currently battling a heat wave. Jan Carmeliet explains how cities can tackle the summer heat. It is a balancing act that calls for finely tuned measures.

The Gloria Cube is ETH Zurich’s newest building in the Zurich City university district. Teaching, research and translation are all carried out in the service of health and medicine here. At the end of last week, ETH Zurich celebrated the laboratory and research building’s inauguration.

Swiss cities are more likely to accept densification when densification projects provide affordable housing and green spaces compared to densification that is implemented through reduced regulations for housing construction. By prioritizing a socio-ecological densification, extensive planning procedures and delays might be minimized.

The new ETH Policy Fellowship aims to foster greater understanding between government and the academic world. Regina Witter from the Federal Office for Spatial Development was among the first cohort to take part.

Vacant land, community gardens and public parks are key resources for liveable cities. Fritz Kleinschroth calls on urban planners to focus on giving nature more space and on granting equitable access to green spaces.

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.

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.

Focusing exclusively on new housing developments to counter the housing crisis is not sustainable, says David Kaufmann. His research group has been able to show that vulnerable persons are displaced to a much greater extent than previously thought in the Swiss canton of Zürich.

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.

Ukrainian building materials professor Viacheslav Troian left his homeland with his family because of the war. At ETH Zurich, he is researching the role that recycled concrete might play in future reconstruction.

Densification is a fundamental principle of urban planning and development today. Nevertheless, it often encounters local resistance. A group of ETH researchers has now systematically investigated factors influencing public acceptance of densification, focusing on the canton of Zurich and six cities of global importance. One key factor: affordable housing.

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.

The Canton of Zurich recently adopted the net-zero 2040 climate protection target. Here Sibylle Wälty appeals for more 10-minute neighbourhoods, which, by making better use of the settlement area, will reduce emissions.

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.

Using large-​scale mobility data from diverse cities around the globe, researchers from ETH Zurich, MIT and the Santa Fe Institute discover a powerful yet surprisingly simple travel law that governs the number of visitors to any location in a city.  

Even minor disruptions in infrastructure systems can have fatal consequences. Researchers and practitioners counter that risk by taking action on multiple levels. Four examples.

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.

Implementation of the “ETH Campus Hönggerberg 2040” vision has taken a major step forward. Zurich’s municipal council approved the outlines of the plans for the future campus development with few changes.

Singapore-ETH Centre bids a fond farewell to its current director, Gerhard Schmitt, Architect and Professor Emeritus for Information Architecture at ETH Zurich, who steps down from his post at the end of the year. The Centre also announces his successor, Gisbert Schneider, Professor for Computer-Assisted Drug Design.

ETH Zurich is developing its campus of the future at Hönggerberg – today, the city council of Zurich set another milestone in the development of an urban campus for teaching, research and exchange.

The Campus Hönggerberg 2040 project lays out a vision for the ETH campus of the future. At the same time, however, space is becoming increasingly scarce for ETH. Why is that? And how can we overcome this challenge in order to create inspiring workplaces?

ETH Zurich is planning to step up its research activities in Singapore. It aims to extend its current Future Resilient Systems programme by five years and to launch a new programme, Future Health Technologies, in the coming year.

ETH scientists have been researching the effect of precipitation and population size on rising temperatures in cities compared with the surrounding countryside. They have found that more green spaces can help to lower temperatures in urban zones – but not everywhere.

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.

Students from 12 departments took part in the first “ETH Singapore Month”, a “classroom” more than 10,000 kilometres away from the Zurich campus. Within an intensive month, they crossed disciplinary boundaries to develop proposals to address complex problems posed by urbanisation.

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.

Pieter Fourie explains how smartphone location data can be analysed without violating the users’ privacy.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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’.

As a spatial planner, Bernd Scholl spent his career planning how to design areas for the future. His search for comprehensive solutions involving transport, settlement and landscape made him a resolute supporter of Switzerland’s direct democratic system. Portrait of a passionate spatial developer.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Branco Weiss fellow Gabriele Manoli wants to enrich urban research with quantitative models and establish a new science dedicated to creating green cities. He has found the ideal location for this: Zurich.

The small and medium-sized municipalities own a large share of the settlement area reserves, but often lack sufficient resources and expertise to implement inward development. Successful settlement development requires both a spatial vision and a strategy; good examples can serve as a useful guide here.

Together with scientists from Empa, ETH Professor Jan Carmeliet studied the latest heatwave last June. ETH News asked him where is the most pleasant place to be in Zurich in summer, and which structural measures should be taken to protect cities from extreme heat events.

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.  

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.

Both science and Swiss businesses are benefiting from the ETH science hub in Singapore. The newly founded Switzerland Technology Impact Platform (STIP) is helping Swiss SMEs to gain a foothold in Asia. For Remo Burkhard, Managing Director of the Singapore-ETH Centre, STIP offers an opportunity to link research with practice, which is in everybody’s interests.

Conservationists must learn to design the ecological landscape of tomorrow instead of mourning lost nature. Landscape architecture can serve as a model for this.

Since 2010, ETH Zurich has forged strong links in Singapore. The Future Cities Laboratory at the Singapore-ETH Centre started recently on its second phase. Reason enough for the "Globe" magazine to take a look at the Swiss research in the city state.  

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 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.

Die Schweizer Raumplanung kann für die anstehenden Aufgaben viel von ihren Pionieren lernen. Diese setzten sich leidenschaftlich für einen Schutz der Landschaft und die nachhaltige Planung und Gestaltung des Lebensraums ein. Mit der Ausstellung «Die Schweiz plant» eröffnet die ETH Zürich erstmals einen Blick auf diese Pionierleistungen.

Building with less cement is the ambitious goal of Guillaume Habert, professor of sustainable construction at ETH Zurich. But there are many hurdles to overcome.

In Asia and Africa, rapid urbanisation has seen human populations move to cities on an unprecedented scale. Increasingly, the inability to settle these new urban dwellers into formal housing, and the inability to engage them economically and socially is bringing about serious urban issues.

The "Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism / Architecture Shenzhen" is the largest of its kind. This year, the ETH professors of architecture Alfredo Brillembourg and Hubert Klumpner are part of the four-person curatorial team. An interview with the two co-curators.

Urbanization, the general shift from rural to urban living, causes the rapid growth of cities and represents one of the key challenges facing our society. Many epicenters of urbanization are in tropical regions, making the climatic context a central challenge for sustainable construction design.

The ETH Board appointed six professors at ETH Zurich as part of its meeting of 4/5 March 2015, in accordance with the application submitted by ETH Zurich President Lino Guzzella.

Weltweit wachsen die Megastädte und immer mehr Menschen zieht es in grosse Agglomerationen. Wie können wir heute die besten Verkehrsnetze für die Städte von morgen planen?

The Zukunftsblog editors wish all our readers happy holidays and all the best for 2015. If you are looking for some good reading material for the holidays or inspiration what to chat about at a Christmas dinner with relatives, here you can find a small selection from the Zukunftsblog archive. We’ll be back with fresh food for thought on 6 January. Enjoy!

What could a section of Calle 30 in the Colombian coastal city of Barranquilla look like in the year 2035? A group of 24 students from four departments at ETH Zurich and Universidad del Norte turned their attention to this question during an exceptional intercultural and transdisciplinary learning event supported by Innovedum.

The gta exhibition ‘Architecture for Children: Zurich’s Playgrounds’ presents the history of the playground in Zurich since 1950. A treasure trove of photos, films, slideshows and plans are on display, along with examples of how children would design a playground today if they had the opportunity.

ETH Zurich’s Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) in Singapore is undertaking several research projects into sustainable urban development and architectural design. A selection of these research projects is now being presented for the first time as part of an exhibition at ETH Zurich.

This week an exhibition in the ETH Main Building presents the work of the Singapore-based Future Cities Laboratory (FCL), showing projects ranging from technologies for sustainable construction, to improved concepts of urban design. A good time, therefore, to reflect upon the achievements of FCL, and ask whether it has all been worthwhile.

As Switzerland grows, the demand for housing and work space is also on the increase. But what actually makes an urban area worth living in, and how can we meet these needs without destroying precious countryside? In the latest issue of Globe, the magazine of ETH Zurich and ETH Alumni, researchers from ETH Zurich discuss their approaches to solving the problem.

No fossil fuels used for heating or hot water in an entire village – that is the ambitious goal of the Zernez Energia 2020 research project. ETH scientists have studied the feasibility of the project and are presenting the initial findings in an exhibition.

Unlängst unternahm die ETH-Professur für Landschaftsarchitektur von Prof. Christophe Girot mit Studierenden den Entwurfskurs «Beach Bank Basel» mit dem Ziel, das Potenzial der Klybeckinsel am rechten Ufer des Rheins in Basel Nord aufzuzeigen. Die neue Ufergestaltung soll die Insel in einen einladenden Erholungsraum für die Bewohner von Basel verwandeln.

Timber construction, informal architecture and biofuels – research partnerships, visiting professorships, start-ups and student projects: all these things connect ETH Zurich and World Cup host Brazil.

The inhabitants of Jakarta have a difficult relationship with their river: it’s a waste carrier and an unwelcome guest in houses and on streets during the rainy season. ETH architecture students worked on concepts to reconcile the river with the city. Their ideas are currently on show at the Architecture Biennale in Rotterdam.

In der Stadt der Zukunft wird die Entsorgung zur Versorgung – dieser These gehen wir seit einiger Zeit an unserem Lehrstuhl für Architektur und Konstruktion am Future Cities Laboratory in Singapur und Zürich nach. Wir haben so ein weites Feld entdeckt, das alternative Perspektiven für unsere Disziplin eröffnet.

An experiment in which a scale model of Zürich’s main train station is flooded was at the centre of a visit of Singapore’s President, Tony Tan at ETH Zurich. Ralph Eichler, President ETH Zurich emphasized the importance of the ETH research hub in Singapore and proposed an expansion of the activities in the southeast Asian city-state.

Die Gemeinde Zernez plant, bis zum Jahr 2020 vollständig auf den Einsatz fossiler Energieträger für Heizung und Warmwasser zu verzichten und ihren Elektrizitätsbedarf durch eigene Produktion zu decken. Das Projekt mit dem Titel «Zernez Energia 2020» entstand anlässlich des 100-jährigen Jubiläums des Schweizerischen Nationalparks.

In late March, our Chair of Architecture and Urban Design joined forces with the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs to bring global actors in urban development to ETH Zürich for a roundtable. Reaching out beyond academia, it was a chance for us to explore how together we can devise collaborative solutions to the most pressing urban challenges.

Air conditioning is one of the daily necessities and irritations of life in Singapore. Since cooling systems account for over a third of the electricity consumed in Singapore, using it very inefficiently, there is a clear need to improve them.

‘Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen, have we got something to show you! Prepare to be impressed!’ With a nice touch of showmanship, Ian Smith, Principal Investigator at the Future Cities Lab (FCL), was presenting the Simulation Platform Research Module. For me, it was one of my first real experiences of FCL.

Es ist ein Sonntagabend Mitte November, leichter Nieselregen, der die spektakulär beleuchtete Budapester Altstadt schimmern lässt. Bei meiner Ankunft im leer geräumten Restaurant erwarten mich rund 150 junge Leute, die sich zwei Tage lang zu den Themen Nachhaltigkeit der Mobilität und Ressourceneffizienz austauschen wollen.