Public Space Behaviorology in Switzerland

Implementation of the Project

The course ran in person over one semester in three interconnected phases: site analysis, design development and 1:1 on-site construction. This sequence promoted sustained learning, as students progressed from close observation to full-scale making, within the real-world context of the Waldlabor Zürich. Situated near ETH Hönggerberg, the Waldlabor forest is both recreational and a research site. The initiative unites the City and Canton of Zurich, ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute WSL, forest owners and foresters to explore how Swiss forests can adapt to climate change over the next century. Students collaborated with experts in biology, hydrology, dendrology, sociology, carpentry and landscape architecture, encouraging interdisciplinary thinking and highlithing challenges of manmade nature under climate crisis conditions.

Teaching centred on active learning. Drawing, empirical analysis, design iteration and full-scale building formed the core. Students combined autonomy with collective outcomes, as individual research fed into group projects. Passive instruction was limited to input lectures to deepen weekly topics. Learning goals ranged from understanding and applying to analyzing and creating. Students built observation skills, conducted independent research, evaluated design criteria, planned and executed construction, and reflected on results, gaining both disciplinary and transferable skills such as collaboration, critical reflection, self-initiative and ecological literacy.

Feedback was frequent through desk critiques, pin-ups and reviews with experts, creating spaces for reflection, debate and adaptation, within the course’s circular methodology: observe, analyze, design, build and re-observe. Peer-to-peer feedback was promoted, enabling students to engage critically with each other’s work and learn collaboratively. Assessment took place across three reviews, combining individual and group work. After each review students received sturctured assessment sheets evaluating completeness, research quality, integration of Architectural Behaviorology, construction logic and communication.

Communication occurred in person through discussion, peer exchange and mentoring. An online platform supported exchange with Waldlabor experts. The synchronous, hands-on format fostered slow learning, allowing knowledge to be internalized. Support included also access to tools and technical staff, and a collaborative studio culture emphasizing trust and shared responsibility. A reader provided theory, precedents and logistics.

Challenges such as outdoor construction, time and cost constraints, and group dynamics were addressed through structured planning, safety preparation, political negociation and adaptive strategies. The circular format offers a sustainable model, transferable to other disciplines, scales and contexts, showing how in-situ, interdisciplinary teaching fosters long-term competencies and addresses urgent societal and environmental issues.

Motivation, Project Mission, Vision Statement

The course asked: In face of climate change, how can architecture reimagine public space by engaging with water and its changing behaviors? Located in Waldlabor, it provided a unique setting for students to explore this question through interdisciplinary research, design, and full-scale building. It gave students tools to understand public spaces as dynamic systems shaped by various actors (humans and non-humans, climates, materials and spatial typologies). This reflection is grounded in the Chair’s methodology of Architectural Behaviorology, which views both site and intervention not as static objects but as part of interconnected networks. Students built skills to respond to complex climate dynamics. Rooted in values of contextual sensitivity and slow, reflective learning, the course’s mission is to promote direct engagement, iterative making, collective knowledge and collaboration. The future architects learned to be not only technically capable, but also contextually sensitive and socially engaged. The vision is to create a scalable, interdisciplinary teaching model that combines climate literacy, fieldwork and critical making into a transferable format. The project’s outcome articulated the role of architecture in society and in responding to climate challenges. The interventions remained in the forest through summer, offering sensory, social and ecological experiences. They invite public engagement with climate realities, extending impact beyond the academic exercise.

Innovative Elements

The course redefines architectural education through slow learning and a circular methodology of observation, analysis, design, iteration and renewed observation. Its innovation lies in combining interdisciplinary research, collaborative, evidence-based design and 1:1 construction.

Moving beyond purely simulation-based and studio-bound models, the course integrates manual craftsmanship, digital fabrication, and embodied experience, valuing direct sensory engagement with materials, climate, and terrain.

Architectural Behaviorology reframes architecture as a network of relationships between human and non-human actors, encouraging thinking beyond disciplinary boundaries. This format emphasizes student-led, bottom-up processes, real-world constraints, and public engagement. Students interact directly with stakeholder and explore real-world social and environmental policies. It breaks from passive, top-down instruction and provides a reproducible and scalable model.

Effects on Student Learning

Student engagement was consistently high, with active participation, collaboration, and self-motivated learning. Students valued the full design-to-construction process, describing it as challenging, stimulating and uniquely structured. Working on-site and at full scale enabled immediate feedback and real-world problem solving, motivating students to develop a responsible position as future architects and lead projects with self-initiative.

Learning outcomes were clearly defined and assessed across three reviews. Effectiveness was evident in the quality of the designs, demonstrating clear comprehension of the project goals and challenges. Both stakeholders and guest reviewers expressed enthusiasm and confidence.

Results showed measurable growth in collaboration, interdisciplinary thinking, empirical research, material experimentation and critical reflection, confirming that active, real-world engagement significantly enhanced student understanding, motivation and agency.

Which Elements of Your Project Would You Recommend to Others?

Architecture is grounded in land and context. Working on-site helps students grasp practical challenges of construction, climate, materials, and social factors beyond idealized paper projects.

The course’s modular, circular structure of observation, analysis, design, construction, and reflection is easily transferable to other disciplines and scales. It fosters deep, sustained learning and can be adapted to varied contexts, including those without direct links to design or construction.

Active, student-led learning, interdisciplinary collaboration, peer feedback and slow-learning foster critical thinking, teamwork, and ecological literacy. This hands-on, real-world approach is adaptable to laboratory research, field studies, or policy projects, and scalable to other teaching scenarios.

Involved Persons

• Federico Billeter (Designer, Woodworker, Supervisor of RAPLAB ETH ONA), Expert Construction and Guest Lecturer
• Dr. Niklaus Reichle (Sociologist and Lecturer, Universität St.Gallen), Guest Lecturer
• Em. Prof. Günther Vogt (Landscape Architect, Professor Emeritus at ETH Zurich), Guest Lecturer
• Céline Baumann (Landscape Architect, Guest Professor at ETH Zurich), Guest Lecturer
• Koki Akiyoshi (Architect, Founder and CEO, VUILD, Inc.), Guest Lecturer
• Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine (Artists filmmakers, Beka & Lemoine), Guest Lecturers
• Additional Guest Reviewers:
  Marianne Burkhalter, Adrien Comte, Patricia Guaita, Siena Hirao, Guido Huwiler, Andreas Kalpakci, Romain Legros, Anna MacIver-Ek, Débora Mesa Molina, Arnaud Michelet, Annette Spiro.