ETH Zurich Faculty of Architecture
Founded in 1854, the Department of Architecture at ETH Zurich is an architecture school of worldwide reputation, providing education in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, and urban design. It has around 1,900 students and 350 staff, and an annual budget of CHF 40 million.
Historical timeline of architectural education at ETH Zurich
In 1854 there was a Parliamentary resolution establishing a federal polytechnic school in Zurich, on the basis of the 1848 constitution15 October 1855 Opening of the ‘Swiss Federal Polytechnic School’ with six divisions, including the Engineering School and – although not originally envisaged – the ‘Building School’
Gottfried Semper, not only a successful architect of monumental buildings but also an established theorist and teacher, was appointed the first professor and director of the Building School. His educational model of the atelier libre, oriented on the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, conflicts with the polytechnic school's profile, which is chiefly practical and technically oriented. The pupils worked in the drafting room on practical assignments, competed in rivalries and contributed to Sempers's own projects.
Semper succeeded in changing the title of the degree from ‘master builder’ to ‘architect’, but he nonetheless failed to extend the three-year duration of studies.
1857 The second professorial chair, focused on civil engineering, is filled by Ernst Gladbach
1864 The Building School relocates to the newly built polytechnic, erected according to plans by Semper, where it occupies the ground floor of the north and west wings
1866 Maximum of 52 students
1871 Semper's departure. Julius Stadler and George Lasius continue to teach in his spirit, but the school is in danger of ossifying
1881 With the appointment of Friedrich Bluntschli – an esteemed architect in the tradition of Semper, albeit far more formalistic – the instruction focuses entirely on the Renaissance vocabulary
1882 The studies are extended to seven semesters
1899 The Building School is renamed as the ‘Architecture School’ and again in 1924 as the ‘Architecture Division’
1900 Gustav Gull, Zurich's municipal architect, is appointed as professor. Reform architecture arrives, and the differentiation between monumental and civil architecture becomes obsolete. Gull introduces the discipline of ‘urban design’ into the curriculum.
1904 The diploma thesis is separated from the seven semesters of the study programme
1911 The polytechnic is renamed as the ‘Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich’
1914 With Bluntschli's retirement, instruction in the classical vocabulary is largely curtailed, finally ending in 1925 with the appointment of Friedrich Hess as the successor to Lasius.
1915 Karl Moser is appointed as professor
Gull and Moser increasingly advocate two conflicting architectural views; Gull is considered regressive and Moser, by contrast, is seen as progressive – and as one of the forefathers of modern architecture.
1917 By reorganising the subjects of structural mechanics, structural analysis and engineering design, the division of responsibilities between engineers and architects we commonly know today is firmly established.
1929 After Moser's retirement as well as Gull's restructuring and the reformation of the architecture division by his successors, Otto Rudolf Salvisberg and William Dunkel: To avoid the coexistence of competing architectural ideas, the instruction is divided into a succession of two-semester courses, each of which is overseen by a single professor and which comprise tasks that are progressively more complex. The curriculum is given a stronger design orientation, with structural analysis and building construction are closely aligned.
1931 Work experience is anchored in the curriculum by implementing a mandatory six-month internship
1941 Hans Hofmann follows O. R. Salvisberg.
1959 Over 400 students enrolled. William Dunkel retires.
The teaching is reorganised: The foundation course developed substantially by Bernhard Hoesli conveys the principles of modern architecture in a systematic way, thus making it is possible to simultaneously permit differing tendencies and understandings of architecture in the upper-level courses.
The teaching staff is expanded, and now includes visiting professors like Georges Candilis, Ralph Erskine, Jørn Utzon and Aldo Rossi, whose design methodologies have been influential until very recently.
1960 The duration of study is extended to eight semesters
The architecture division develops an increasingly more scientific orientation
New subjects, such as sociology, are introduced
The teaching principles for architectural design are systematised by Hoesli
Research institutes established:
– Institute for Local, Regional and National Planning ORL
– Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture gta
– Institute for Building Research HBF
– Institute for Building Technology HBT
– Institute of Historic Building Research ID
1968 Additional space is taken up in the so-called Globus Provisorium at the Bahnhofbrücke Zürich
1972 A two-year rotation cycle is established for the dean
Mid-1970s Over 1000 students enrolled
1976 Under great protest, the architecture division relocates to the ETH annex on the Hönggerberg campus
1980s In light of the pluralism of international architecture and through ETH's own research, the supposedly clear profile of the school, based on modernism, is increasingly called into question. The stringent didactic concept of the foundation course at the beginning of the programme is fragmented.
The school, called the Department of Architecture since 1999, gains more autonomy. In accordance with the ETH's policies focused on international excellence, research takes on greater significance. This is reflected in the numerous publications issued by the chairs and institutes and in a significant increase in the number of doctorates.
2007 Introduction of a six-semester bachelor programme and a four-semester master programme in compliance with standards defined by the Bologna Process
Lecturers
Current lecturers
- Marc Angélil, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Design
- Philippe Block, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Structure
- Gion A. Caminada, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Design
- Jan Carmeliet, Professor, Chair of Building Physics
- Adam Caruso, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Technology
- François Charbonnet, Visiting Professor of Architectural Design
- Emanuel Christ, Assistant Professor of Architecture and Design
- Kees Christiaanse, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Urban Design
- Andrea Deplazes, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Technology
- Roger Diener, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Design
- Dietmar Eberle, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Design
- Tom Emerson, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Construction
- Christoph Gantenbein, Assistant Professor of Architecture and Design
- Annette Gigon, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Construction
- Christophe Girot, Professor, Chair of Landscape Architecture
- Fabio Gramazio, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Digital Fabrication
- Mike Guyer, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Construction
- Uta Hassler, Professor, Chair of Historic Building Research and Conservation
- Dirk Hebel, Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Urban Design
- Mathias Heinz, Visiting Professor of Architectural Design
- Patrick Heiz, Visiting Professor of Architectural Design
- Jacques Herzog, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Design, Pritzker Prize
- Ludger Hovestadt, Professor, Chair of Computer-Aided Architectural Design
- Christian Kerez, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Design
- Hubert Klumpner, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Urban Design
- Matthias Kohler, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Digital Fabrication
- Alexander Lehnerer, Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Urban Design
- Hansjürg Leibundgut, Professor, Chair of Building Systems
- Winy Maas, Visiting Professor of Architectural Design
- Peter Märkli, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Technology
- Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani, Professor, Chair of the History of Urban Design
- Josep Lluis Mateo, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Design
- Beat Mathys, Visiting Professor of Architectural Design
- Marcel Meili, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Design
- Sacha Menz, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Building Process
- Pierre de Meuron, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Design, Pritzker Prize
- Ákos Moravánszky, Honorary Professor of Theory of Architecture
- Markus Peter, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Technology
- Karin Sander, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Art
- Wolfgang Schett, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Design
- Arno Schlüter, Assistant Professor of Architecture and Sustainable Building Technologies
- Christian Schmid, Honorary Professor of Sociology
- Gerhard Schmitt, Professor, Chair of Information Architecture
- Joseph Schwartz, Professor, Chair of Structural Design
- Miroslav Šik, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Design
- Annette Spiro, Professor, Chair of Architecture and Technology
- Laurent Stalder, Professor of Theory of Architecture
- Ursula Stücheli, Visiting Professor of Architectural Design
- Andreas Tönnesmann, Professor, Chair of the History of Art and Architecture
- Milica Topalovic, Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Territorial Planning
- Philip Ursprung, Professor, Chair of the History of Art and Architecture
- Günther Vogt, Professor, Chair of Landscape Architecture
Notable former lecturers
- Gottfried Semper, German architect
- Aldo Rossi, Italian architect, Pritzker Prize
- Jørn Utzon, Danish architect, Pritzker Prize
- Kazuyo Sejima, Japanese architect, SANAA Pritzker Prize
- Eduardo Souto de Moura, Portuguese architect, Pritzker Prize
- Peter Eisenman, American architect,
- Frank Gehry, American architect,, Pritzker Prize
- Dominique Perrault, French architect,
- Daniel Libeskind, American architect,
- Jacob Burckhardt, Swiss historian of art and culture
- Paul Feyerabend, Austrian philosopher of science
- Christian Menn, Swiss bridge designer
- Valerio Olgiati, Swiss architect,
- Greg Lynn, American architect,
- Giorgio Grassi, Italian architect,
- Elia Zenghelis, Greek architect,
- Hani Rashid, American architect Asymptote,
- Hans Kollhoff, German architect,
- Philippe Rahm, Swiss architect,
- Smiljan Radic, Chilean architect,
- Dieter Kienast, Swiss landscape architect,
- Tony Fretton, British architect,
Distinguished graduates
- Hendrik Petrus Berlage, architect
- Aldo van Eyck
- Santiago Calatrava, architect
- Max Frisch, architect
- Jacques Herzog
- Pierre de Meuron
- Aldo Rossi, architect
- Bernard Tschumi, architect
- Peter Märkli
- François Charbonnet
- Justus Dahinden
- Konstantin Jovanović
- Piet Eckert, architect
- Wim Eckert, architect
- Schak Bull, Norwegian architect
- John Engh, Norwegian architect
- Othmar Ammann, Swiss-American structural engineer
- Elli Mosayebi
- Karl Moser
- Miroslav Šik
- Hans Benno Bernoulli
- Bernhard Hoesli
- William Lescaze
- Christian Kerez
- Marc Angelil
- Werner M. Moser
- Hans Auer
- Alfred Friedrich Bluntschli
- Livio Vacchini
- Roger Diener, Diener & Diener
- Mike Guyer, Gigon/Guyer
- Annette Gigon, Gigon/Guyer
- Luigi Snozzi, Swiss architect
Institutes
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Degrees
- Bachelor of Science ETH in Architecture
- Master of Science ETH in Architecture
- Doctor of Sciences
- Master of Advanced Studies ETH in Landscape Architecture
- Master of Advanced Studies ETH in Urban Design
- Master of Advanced Studies ETH in Competence and Responsibility - Building Process
- Master of Advanced Studies ETH in Architecture:
- * with specialisation in Computer Aided Architectural Design
- * with specialisation in City Building Typology
- * with specialisation in Conservation Sciences
- * with specialisation in History and Theory of Architecture
- * with specialisation in Sustainable Management of Man-made Resources
- * with specialisation in Tectonical Construction Systematics
- * with specialisation in Housing