Eight changes at D-ARCH
The D-ARCH has completed two dynamic semesters. The Executive Board looks back on the most important achievements during the first year of its term in office.
Guest studios
The Executive Board has increased the number of visiting studios from two to six and extended them to other institutes. These select a person or a collective for one to four semesters with the involvement of the professors, the mid-level academic staff and the students. In the fall semester, in addition to the landscape architect Céline Baumann and the architects Oliver Lütjens and Thomas Padmanabhan, the department is welcoming the ZAS* association, the architect Lillit Bollinger, the architect Gilles Retsin and Anja Beer and David Merz from the Beer Merz architecture office as design guests.
Appointments
Last year, ETH appointed three full professors at the department: Rosa Barba as Professor of Art in Space and Time, Martina Voser as Professor of Landscape Architecture and Bernd Bickel as Professor of Computational Design. The appointments of further professorships are also open: for architecture and sociology, for landscape architecture, for digital transformation, for architecture and construction as well as for adaptive reuse.
Curriculum Revision
With the adoption of the detailed concept at the department conference in May, the Curriculum Revision took an important step. The project is now entering the implementation phase until its planned introduction in autumn 2025. The first-year "Foundations" design studio will be led by a collective that integrates various subjects. It consists of Philippe Block, Roger Boltshauser, Maarten Delbeke, Fabio Gramazio, Jacqueline Pauli, Arno Schlüter, Martina Voser and Daniel Mettler from the lectureship for building technology and construction.
Enabling Grants
The Executive Board has repositioned the Enabling Grants to support the professorships in launching new project initiatives. The aim is to enable the development of third-party funding initiatives in teaching, research and transfer at an early stage, which are effective in at least one of the five strategic fields of action of the D-ARCH. Up to 15,000 francs will be awarded per application.
Research Day
On June 4th, the research day took place for the second time at the department in order to better network ongoing research and promote interdisciplinary exchange. In order to reduce the effort somewhat, the day was combined with the aptitude colloquia, at which PhD students present their research projects for the first time. In total, over two dozen doctoral students presented and discussed their work on the day.
Wohnforum ETH CASE
The Wohnforum ETH CASE has a long tradition at the department. The Board of Directors has now been reappointed. In addition to the Executive Director Jennifer Duyne Barenstein, the board includes Professors Maria Conen and Elli Mosayebi. The new management will begin the teaching/research project "How does Switzerland live?", with which the Wohnforum is strengthening its focus on the architecture of housing.
Communications
The Executive Board has created a new position for external communications, which Andres Herzog has been heading since March. He oversees the D-ARCH Magazine, the social media presence and the department's newsletter. He advises the professorships on questions about communication. And he answers media inquiries in consultation with ETH corporate communications.
Atelier Gisel
After Professor Gion A. Caminada retired, the Executive Board has repositioned Atelier Gisel. It is now open to all studios that can spend a semester at the outpost in Zurich Hirslanden. Tom Emerson will be followed by Elli Mosayebi's design studio in the fall. In addition, the studio is available to everyone in the department for retreats and meetings outside of the semester.