THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE ACADEMIC SPACE
In recent years, the typical campus has transformed from a collection of university buildings placed in a field to a collection of generic office buildings situated within the urban fabric. Specific space, which was a formative part of an enclosed academic community, became replaced with ‘synergetic’ connections of similarities in the urban fabric, making architectural and programmatic specificity obsolete.
The ETH Zurich demonstrates this significant change in the definition of the campus. The Hönggerberg Campus, designed as an ensemble of academic buildings in the 70`s, was recently transformed into a masterplan dominated by standard office buildings. The transformation, which is not only evident in the ETH campus, illustrates the typological conflict and shift on which the new campus idea is based.
The proposed research into the campus as an architectural and spatial megaform will instead explore its specific architectural organisation and form and the role of the urban campus a central node of the city.
