Noise surrounds us. And yet, as willing as we may be to listen, it is not until a filtering process takes place that it becomes intelligible. For us, the language of architecture articulates this filtering process. With the re-arrangement of what is already there, noise becomes music – Continua
Fuga di capitali, debiti e crisi hanno lasciato cicatrici visibili sul volto dell’ambiente costruito nelle città di tutto il mondo. Nel centro di Atene, abbandono endemico, un patrimonio edilizio in deterioramento e un tessuto urbano frammentato sono tutti sintomi di processi di declino radicati nel tempo. Con il Continua
Sviluppato da un gruppo di ricercatori della cattedra di Architettura e urbanistica LUS, Prof. Hubert Klumpner, e sostenuto dai gruppi di ITA, Prof. Dr. Arno Schlueter e Prof. Dr. Philippe Block, in collaborazione con una rete internazionale di partner, come l’Universidad del Norte, la Fábrica de Cultura: BAQ Continua
Sebbene il Sud Africa sia generalmente considerato una fonte di stabilità e di prosperità nella sua regione, circa 7.5 milioni di persone vivono in insediamenti informali e il paese soffre di una carenza di alloggi che complessivamente ammonta a 2.5 milioni di unità. Nato da queste premesse, Empower Continua
Le strategie bottom-up sono una delle possibilità per affrontare le carenze urbane esistenti. Torre David, una torre per uffici alta 45 piani a Caracas, era quasi al termine della sua realizzazione quando, in seguito alla morte del suo finanziatore e alla crisi bancaria nazionale che ha paralizzato l’economia Continua
Ruby Press. Mehr Can architecture and design respond to cities under stress? With its roots in a research and design initiative, this book presents a collection of 101 spatial ideas that map a post-crisis urban vision for Athens. Targeting a range of challenges, from the economy and public space, Continua
Having collaborated with Khayelitsha-based NGO Theater4Change on the 2016 production Holy Contract, the Urban-Think Tank Chair is now designing a new arts complex to replace the group’s existing self-built space. The Makukhanye Shack Theater will greatly expand the impact of programs already underway, as well as improve access Continua
Initiated in 2014, the Urban-Think Tank Chair is developing an urban game that aims to facilitate decision-making and design processes to understand complex, real-life urban transformations in cities worldwide. Part educational tool, part platform for scenario planning, the ongoing project supports a sustainable approach to urban development while Continua
In: Hou, Jeffrey; Spencer, Benjamin; Way, Thaisa; Yocom, Ken (Hrsg.): Now Urbanism: The Future City Is Here. Routledge. More This book explores the intersections of critical inquiry and immediate, substantive actions. The contributions recognize the rich complexities of the present city not as barriers or obstacles but as grounds for uncovering opportunity Continua
PDF Mehr The Empower Shack team is a response to unsustainable housing approaches in South Africa. What began as a design and build workshop, aimed at developing a double-story shack prototype for Cape Town’s Khayelitsha township, has evolved into a more ambitious project to implement design innovations for rapid and Continua
Zürich: Lars Müller Publishers. Urban-Think Tank, Lehrstuhl für Architektur und Städtebau, ETH Zürich. Fotografien von Iwan Baan. Mehr Torre David, a 45-story skyscraper in Caracas, has remained uncompleted since the Venezuelan economy collapsed in 1994. Today, it is the improvised home to more than 750 families living in Continua
Zurich: ETH Zurich, FCL Singapore. Mehr The magazine has grown to address a wide variety of global urban themes. Since its first edition, S.L.U.M. Lab has proven to be both provocative and popular. Knowledge sharing has always been a core aspect of the magazine, and many leading Continua
Can a museum be a force for change in a city? Inspired by citizen-led solidarity initiatives, the Urban-Think Tank Chair and Baier Bischofberger have redefined the iconic, but neglected, Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina – not as an institution dedicated solely to the display of objects, but as Continua
The Empower Shack project continues to evolve. The design research program has been completed, resulting in the documentation of a phased urban layout plan and a ‘fit for purpose’ low-cost housing prototype linked to an incremental plan for formal building code compliance. Initially conceived for a 68-unit pilot Continua
SwissAIM is an advanced software platform. It delivers dynamic high-resolution modeling of urban structures, landscapes, demographics, weather, energy, resources, and socio-economic conditions. Possible future urban scenarios will be synthesized for the whole of Switzerland from 2020 to 2050.
Founded in 1978 as a secluded site for drug rehabilitation, the Italian village of San Patrignano today consists of 1,600 residents whose therapy includes learning to produce food, furniture, and other goods. After visiting the community and markets in Emilia-Romagna, Urban-Think Tank’s design studio has been developing flexible Continua
The Urban-Think Tank Chair of Architecture and Urban Design recently launched a two-year design research project in the informal settlements of Cape Town, South Africa, with field surveys, commented walks and the design and facilitation of a series of open workshops. Referencing methods of participation from the Informal Continua
The Empower Shack project introduces an integrated approach to upgrading South African informal settlements, merging design innovation with community-driven spatial planning and livelihoods programming. The initiative links the roll-out of a two-story, self-built housing prototype with a participatory urban planning methodology supported by computational analysis. Funded by the Swiss Re Foundation, led by Continua
The devastating floods that hit Bosnia and Herzegovina in May revealed outdated planning mechanisms, as well as a growing problem of landslides in areas with informal settlements. A task force initiated at the open plenum of architects in Sarajevo aims to develop a response.
«As a creative practice, mapping precipitates its most productive effects through a finding that is also a founding; its agency lies in neither reproduction nor imposition but rather in uncovering realities previously unseen or unimagined, even across seemingly exhausted grounds. Thus, mapping ‘unfolds’ potential; it re-makes territory over Continua
The ETH Zurich and the IDB launched a pioneering collaboration in 2012, with the goal to provide applied research and integrated design solutions for Port of Spain, Trinidad. The Brillembourg & Klumpner Chair critically assessed river regeneration, cultural heritage restoration, and urban renovation within the framework of two Continua
Urban Parangolé is a framework that responds to the human need and desire for movement – it engages us in a dance with the city. This notion pays homage to the work of Brazilian artist Hélio Oiticica and extends the central tenet that ‘life is movement’ from the body Continua
Vertical Cities Asia is an annual architecture and urban design competition aimed at developing new urban models for rapidly growing cities in Asia. The competition uses high density as a tool to address the challenges of growing cities and to counter the perpetual multiplication of destructive typologies. Each Continua
The current design studio of the chair of Architecture and Urban Design (Alfredo Brillembourg & Hubert Klumpner) is the pilot project of a new, on-going collaboration between the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the ETH Zurich. The IDB recently launched the Emerging and Sustainable Cities Initiative (ESCI). Within Continua
In our trajectory of urban research on informality, Torre David, an abandoned and subsequently invaded 45-story office tower in Caracas, Venezuela, presents a shift from the marginalized fringes of the city to the urban core. As such, the tower represents an opportunity to test new, alternative urban models.
Urban-Think Tank – Prof. Alfredo Brillembourg and Prof. Hubert Klumpner, with Michael Contento and Lindsey Sherman – has won the Holcim Gold Award 2011 for Latin America with their project «Grotão – Fábrica de Música», a terraced landscape and multifunctional public building located in the Paraisópolis favela of Continua
Das Special Urban Design Studio – Projekt «SymbioCity» gewinnt den internationalen Studentenwettbewerb Vertical Cities Asia 2011, Chengdu, ausgelobt von der National University Singapore. Das Special Urban Design Studio wurde von der Professur Christiaanse zusammen mit der Professur Brillembourg/Klumpner geleitet. Mehr. Ansprechperson: Nicolas Kretschmann
Professor Alfredo Brillembourg and Professor Hubert Klumpner hold the chair for Architecture and Urban Design at the ETH Zurich as of July, 2010. They currently run an interdisciplinary practice dedicated to high-level research and design on a variety of subjects surrounding contemporary architecture and urbanism. Here, they present Continua
Il progetto «Hoograven Invites You» è stato presentato l’anno scorso all’«Utrecht Manifest». Partendo da un confronto tra il Marocco urbano e l’Olanda urbana, l’obiettivo era quello di allargare i confini delle nostre conoscenze sulla qualità dell’ambiente urbano e dell’esperienza umana relativamente alla progettazione sociale, abbracciare l’informalità, definirne elementi Continua
Il progetto di rivitalizzazione dell’Avenida Lecuna a Caracas è un master plan collegato al Metro Cable San Augustin. Ha l’obiettivo di riqualificare le aree rimaste inutilizzate dopo la costruzione della linea 4 della metropolitana e creare nuovi edifici residenziali per famiglie a basso reddito e nuovi servizi per Continua
Esperienze precedenti avevano mostrato che gli abitanti dei quartieri di Caracas sono ben informati e documentati e capiscono perfettamente le necessità della loro comunità, anche se non hanno esperienza di pianificazione e sviluppo urbano. L’esperienza degli abitanti, dei sindaci, dei funzionari del governo e di consulenti internazionali ha Continua
Questo progetto consiste in un sistema costruttivo prefabbricato in cui gli impianti sportivi sono posizionati in modo modulare, strutturale e verticale (pallavolo, arti marziali, pista di atletica, area di sollevamento pesi, pallacanestro ecc.). Tre palestre di questo tipo sono già state costruite a Caracas, altre verranno presto realizzate Continua
Application period: 1 January 2025 – 31 March 2025. Master of Advanced Studies in Urban and Territorial Design ETH Zürich D-ARCH LUS and EPFL ENAC HRC, joint master programme.
Il professore Hubert Klumpner è titolare della cattedra di Architettura e Urbanistica dell’ETH Zurigo dal luglio 2010. E docenti del corso Introduzione all’urbanistica ed impartiscone inoltre insegnamenti di progettazione e pianificazione a livello avanzato. Il professore tengo attualmente un corso di pratica interdisciplinare rivolto alla ricerca e alla progettazione di alto livello in un’ampia varietà di aspetti dell’architettura e dell’urbanistica contemporanea.