"Zurich Dialogues on Densification" Vernissage

Vernissage

Zurich Dialogues on Densification
Exhibition curated by Prof. Jonathan Sergison (ISUP, USI) and Prof. Tom Avermaete (gta, ETH Zurich)

Thursday, 26 February 2026, 6:30 p.m

ZAZ Bellerive, Zurich

The exhibition Zurich Dialogues on Densification is the showcases the results of an extended research partnership between ISUP and gta, ETH Zurich led by Jonathan Sergison and Tom Avermaete.

In the next decades, the city of Zurich anticipates a population increase of up to 25%. Finding the means of housing, collective services, public facilities, and recreational spaces to accommodate circa 100,000 new inhabitants is only one of the city’s challenges.
Changing dwelling patterns and mobility practices, the need to mitigate climate change and enhance green spaces increasingly require integrated urban development. How then can Zurich’s densification be realised without a loss of urban quality? How can a denser city continue to attend to the wide spectrum of social and infrastructural functions a population requires, including not only housing but schools, medical facilities, and an expanded transport infrastructure? How can public amenities that until now have rendered Zurich so liveable survive?
The exhibition looks at the city’s historical development, illustrating how urban codes have structured its growth. It asks to what extent these codes require a new approach and seeks design solutions to show how densification could be qualitatively managed. In other words, it seeks to render the consequences of densification tangible and understandable.
Through film, large-scale physical models, archival material, drawings and photographs, the exhibition investigates these questions, and proposes large to small scale solutions to a denser, yet sustainable, Zurich.

Two books accompany the exhibition, as well as a programme of events, public discussions, and city walks.

26 February - 28 June 2026
Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 2pm to 6pm / Thursday, 2pm to 8pm