Material Investigations: Concrete in Switzerland

Student Project Presentations

The course explores some major and minor intellectual traditions upon which materially oriented methods of urban research are based. During the seminar, students developed critical understandings of material agency and ecology, as well as their connections to urban governance, extractive capitalism, and colonial legacies. These studies were complemented by practical workshops, where students developed their research agendas into visual essays combining text and images.

The central focus of this year’s research was concrete, one of the most controversial building materials. Students examined its environmental and cultural transformations within Switzerland during the 20th century, paying special attention to its role in reshaping landscapes, infrastructures, and socio-economic dynamics. By analyzing concrete buildings and infrastructures in Basel and other Swiss regions, students unearthed the material’s impact to both disciplinary debates and broader societal controversies.

On the occasion of the presentation, students will showcase their visual essays, which reflect their research journeys, from primary site explorations and photographic documentation to theoretical analysis and storytelling. Each project highlights unique narratives around the intersections of material analysis, urban governance, and historical change.

Please join the students, the instructor and the guest critics Patrick Düblin, Makau Kitata, Ekaterina Wittwer-Nuzhdina, and Mariana Santana at Alte Universität, Rheinsprung 9, Seminarraum -1, between 9:30 and 12:00.

Veranstaltung übernehmen als iCal