In preparation for the upcoming renovation of the HIL building, the “Living Lab HIL” initiative of the D-ARCH and D-BAUG departments at ETH Zurich is facilitating internal pilot projects to explore contemporary forms of teaching and working. The aim is to identify the potential of the existing building stock, and develop teaching projects within it.
The HIL E60 – E73 area of the building is currently divided into individual, lockable units that serve as office for faculty and administration, meeting rooms, and an event room. These are only occupied for part of the week or for specific events, and are vacant on other days.
This project aims to test how such closed-off spaces might be opened up to better meet the needs of the contemporary architecture school. The focus is on spaces for exchange for members of the department at all levels: it includes the design of overlapping workspaces and multifunctional rooms that might offer more seamless use to a combination of stakeholders, such as students and administrators.
This scenario tests the potential of such a transformation, and identifies possible difficulties in the prototypical implementation or adaptation of the space.