AGENDA

Station+ (s+) is a teaching and research platform at the Institute for Design at the Department of Architecture, ETH Zurich. It was established in 2017 and is based on the collaborative film series, Legislating Architecture, The Property Drama, and Architecting after Politics (Brandlhuber+ Olaf Grawert and Christopher Roth, 2016 – 2018). These films explored the potential of film and storytelling in popularizing discourses on themes that shape architecture, from theory to practice. Building on this notion, s+ was founded as an architecture TV station to further explore the potential of video and film as design tools for form-making beyond the built object, between fact and fiction, in space and time.

Rather than conforming to conventional concepts of architecture, s+ offers proposals that challenge the underlying systematics that limit collective and individual imagination. We need new starting points to imagine alternative ways of designing the world. s+ aims to overcome a retroactive architectural practice that legitimizes formal decisions through fabricated tales after the fact. Instead, we seek to unlock the power of speculative architecting. By embedding narratives, the focus of design shifts from the object and its manifestation to the argument behind it. As Christopher Roth said, "Don’t complain. Design a strong argument. Compress the argument. If it does not survive compression, it is not a good argument. That is how we make TV."

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TEAM

Arno Brandlhuber (DE, 1964) is an architect and urban planner at bplus.xyz (Berlin), a collaborative practice that emerged from Brandlhuber+ (2006-2021). In his architectural production, from buildings to research to media, he deals with the existing building stock with a focus on legislation. He understands the given not as a restriction but rather as an active design tool to challenge the norms. This approach resulted in several buildings such as Brunnenstrasse 9, Antivilla or St. Agnes, and three films: Legislating Architecture (2016), The Property Drama (2017), and Architecting after Politics (2018), together with director Christopher Roth. Brandlhuber's engagement with the medium of film and its political and spatial potential led to the founding of station+ at ETH Zurich in 2017, a collaboration that resulted in 2038 - The New Serenity, the German Pavilion at the 17th Venice Biennale, together with Olaf Grawert, Nikolaus Hirsch, and Christopher Roth.

Severin Bärenbold (CH, 1987) is a cinematographer and film producer based in Zurich. He studied cinematography in Paris and co-founded the video production company Motor Productions after graduating, producing a variety of formats ranging from documentary to advertising, music videos and fiction film. His seminar Access to Tools focuses on the technical aspects and skills required in storytelling and the production of video formats and other time-based media. Bärenbold has been teaching with station+ at ETH Zurich since 2017.

Ludwig Engel (DE, 1982) is a futurologist and urbanist based in Berlin. His post-disciplinary practice spans teaching, researching, curating, writing, publishing, organizing workshops, conferences, discourse platforms and advising companies and public institutions on the impact of futures and utopias for society’s capabilities to create and design better tomorrows. Together with Julian Schubert, he directs the Master’s program „Studio for Immediate Spaces“ at the Sandberg Instituut, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam. Engel has been collaborating with station+ at ETH Zurich since 2018.

Olaf Grawert (AT, 1987) is an architect, advisor and a partner at bplus.xyz (Berlin). Together with a close network of collaborators, he works on architectural projects that bridge theory and practice, from campaigns and exhibitions to publications and films. His work focuses on the political and economic conditions of spatial production, with a particular interest in the potential of architecture to effect social change. Grawert was co-curator of 2038 - The New Serenity, the German Pavilion at the 17th Venice Biennale, and is co-editor of "What is architecture?". He has been teaching with station+ at ETH Zurich since 2017.

Pan Hu (CN, 1995) works as a freelance architect and researcher at the Case Studio of Günther Vogt in Zurich. During the past years, he gained experience with FAR in Berlin, Herzog & de Meuron in Basel, and Team 2038, the German Pavilion at the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2021. Hu further contributed to associated research projects such as Arch+ 236: Posthumane Architektur (2019) or New Modernity (ongoing). Together with Yufei He and James Horkulak, he initiated the research and design collective Dorsa. He is teaching at station+ ETH Zurich since 2022.

Elise Misao Hunchuck (CA) is a transdisciplinary researcher, editor, writer, and educator based in Berlin and Milan. She brings together architecture, landscape architecture, and media studies to research, write and teach about the political ecologies of sites in Canada, Japan, China, and Ukraine. Elise is the journal editor and curator of the transmediale festival and an editorial board member for the journal SCAPEGOAT. She is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor at GSAPP at Columbia University. Alongside Marco Ferrari and Jingru (Cyan) Cheng, she co-led the architectural design studio ADS7: Politics of the Atmosphere at the Royal College of Art in London (2019–2022). Hunchuck is conducting research with station+ at ETH Zurich since 2023.

Alina Ana Kolar (AUT, 1990) is a communication scientist, creative strategist, and curator specializing in visual cultures and political semiotics. She works at the intersection of art, activism, and social change, with a particular focus on the visuality of political events and representations of the public. An expert in diverse and inclusive management across organizations, Alina has built global partnerships and specialist consultancies that move fluidly through the public and private creative sectors. Between 2017-2022, she co-founded and led the international street newspaper, publishing house, and philanthropic organization Arts of the Working Class. Kolar is researching and teaching with station+ at ETH Zurich since 2023.

Jolene Lee (MY, 1993) is a Berlin-based architect and partner at bplus.xyz (Berlin). Her architectural projects focus on live, work, and third places in collaboration with Brandlhuber+, Muck Petzet Architekten, and FAKT Office for Architecture. As a practicing architect, Jolene is interested in taking concepts and theories into reality, utilizing a toolset that encompasses representational narrative in conceptual design, entrepreneurial strategies in architecture, and curation of architectural documentation. In her latest exploration, Jolene is conducting research and teaching with station+ at ETH Zurich since 2022.

Bing Liu (DE, 1995) is an architect who studied at ETH Zurich. He gained experience with Atelier Peter Zumthor in Haldenstein and developed a game called Retired Waves in 2022. Liu is researching and teaching with station+ at ETH Zurich since 2023.

Meghan Rolvien (DE, 1995) gained experience as an architect at Brandlhuber+ (Palermo) and Bruther (Paris), as well as a collaborator with NEXPO and Team 2038; the German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2021. She works as an independent architect and in collaboration with ALIAS, Zurich. As part of the activist collective ZAS* in Zurich, Meghan deals with the transformation of existing buildings that are threatened to be demolished. She is researching the effects of natural catastrophes on architecture, an interest for which she was awarded the Heinrich-Hatt-Bucher Prize. This interest is further reflected in her teaching with station+ at ETH Zurich since 2021.

RESEARCH ASSISTANTS

Tatjana Bergmeister, Hoi Ming Du, Nils Grootenzerink, Florian Jaritz, Anton Krebs, Maximilian Lewark, Josiane Schmidt, Alexander Throm