Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture

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Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture (gta) at ETH Zurich
logo
founding January 1, 1967
place Zurich
country Switzerland
management Laurent Stalder (Head), Philip Ursprung (Deputy Head)
Employee approx. 100 (headcount, as of May 2017)
Networks EAHN (European Architectural History Network), icam (international confederation of architectural museums), Docomomo (International Working Party for Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighborhoods of the Modern Movement), Werner Oechslin Library Foundation, Association of Swiss Architects , ABA-ARCH (Archives et Bibliothèques d'Architecture Suisse), Federation of German-Language Architectural Collections
Website gta.arch.ethz.ch
Book cover speeches and lecture at the opening

The Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture (gta) is a teaching and research institute in the Department of Architecture at ETH Zurich , located at ETH Zurich , Hönggerberg .

history

The Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture (gta) was founded on January 1st, 1967 as a research facility in the architecture department of ETH Zurich. The inaugural symposium took place on June 23, 1967.

Since the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture (gta) was founded in 1967, history and present, theory and practice have formed the cornerstones and frame of reference for the work done here. In addition to teaching in the fields of art and architectural history, architectural theory and urban planning, the focus since the institute was founded has been on teaching and researching architecture in its historical depth and thematic breadth. The results of the institute's own research, which is largely shaped by the content-related interests of the teaching staff and the holdings of the archive that was founded at the same time, have been presented in a series of publications since 1968. These were first published in collaboration with Birkhäuser Verlag ("Regenbogen-Reihe"), later with Ammann Verlag and, since the mid-1980s, by gta Verlag, which is one of the leading academic architecture publishers today.

The takeover of the so-called Semper Archive from the ETH-Bibliothek on the occasion of the establishment of the institute formed the basis for the gta archive, which over the years has developed into an internationally renowned research institution. Since then, the focus of the acquisition has been 19th century and pre-modern architecture, modern (Swiss) architecture in the form of collections ( CIAM ) as well as the priorities and bequests of individual architects of international importance (including Karl Moser , Hans Bernoulli , Lux Guyer , Haefeli Moser Steiger , Ernst Gisel , Fritz Haller , Trix and Robert Haussmann ).

The organization office for exhibitions of the architecture department of the ETH Zurich was affiliated with the gta institute in 1974 and has been presenting the gta exhibitions to the general public since 1986 with insights into contemporary architectural discourse and current research at the architecture department.

Head of Institute

Professorships and areas

Today the institute comprises the following professorships:

  • Professorship for the History and Theory of Urban Design, Tom Avermaete
  • Professorship for the History and Theory of Architecture, Maarten Delbeke
  • Professor of Architectural Theory, Laurent Stalder
  • Professorship for the History of Art and Architecture, Philip Ursprung

The following areas support research and convey its results:

The gta institute supports young scientists with its own doctoral program (since 2012). The institute's range of courses is supplemented by the “Master of Advanced Studies in the History and Theory of Architecture” program, which mediates between practice and science (since 1992).

There is close scientific collaboration with the Werner Oechslin Library Foundation, which is linked to the ETH via a cooperation agreement.

Teaching and research areas

The institute's task is to historically process architecture in its historical depth and ideological breadth and to reflect it theoretically. In addition to establishing and verifying facts, the gta institute has always endeavored to check the methods used for their suitability as models and to make them productive for contemporary architecture. At the institute gta, the history of knowledge of architecture, the forms and techniques of building, the functions of architecture and their relationship to society and politics, the development of design and architectural thinking from the beginnings to the present, as well as methods of architectural-historical work from building analysis researched and taught up to the digital humanities.

Web links

Commons : Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ For the history of the institute, cf. Martin Fröhlich, “Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture at the ETH Zurich”, in: Our Art Monuments, 24 (1973), no. 1, pp. 16-20; Katharina Medici-Mall, «Collect, research, exhibit, publish. The Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture at the ETH Zurich », in: Aktuell Bauen, 18 (April 1983), pp. 23–26; Ruth Hanisch, Steven Spier, “History is not the past but Another Mightier Presence”. The Tounding of the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture (gta) at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zurich and Its Effects on Swiss Architecture », in: Journal of Architecture, 14 (2009), no. 6, p. 655 -686.
  2. ^ Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture (ed.), Speeches and lecture at the opening, Basel: Birkhäuser 1968.