Prof. Hubert Klumpner

Prof.  Hubert Klumpner

Prof. Hubert Klumpner

Head of ETH Wohnforum - ETH CASE

ETH Zürich

Professur Architekt. u. Städtebau

ONA J 14

Neunbrunnenstr. 50

8093 Zürich

Switzerland

Additional information

Research area

Architecture’s failure to define informal urbanism and its effects on the city forms the basis for the research of Prof. Klumpner. Both his current research and the trajectory of his work over the past decades aim at increasing the understanding of the informal city from three perspectives:

• From a humanitarian standpoint, urban shantytowns are plagued by problems, not the least of which are poverty and a lack of support from professionals.

• From a theoretical standpoint, informality is a complex, non-linear system in which patterns intersect and mutate in unexpected ways.

• From a design standpoint, the “informal” can serve as a laboratory for the study of adaptation and innovation. The two professors propose an experimental research and teaching methodology that rethinks the former physical limitations of contemporary architecture and shifts the emphasis from form-driven to purpose-oriented social architecture.

Hubert Klumpner is a Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the Department of Architecture since August 2010. He was co-responsible for the Chair of Architecture and Urban Design together with Alfredo Brillembourg from HS2010 to HS2018. Since 1st of Aug. 2019 the Chair is under his sole responsibility.

He was born in Salzburg, Austria, 22nd of Dec. 1965.

Hubert Klumpner obtained a degree from the University of Applied Arts in Vienna under Professor Hans Hollein and worked for Enrique Miralles and Paul Rudolph. He completed an MSc in architecture and urban design at Columbia University in New York in 1995 and has been a member of the Bavarian Chamber of Architects since 1997 and the SIA since 2010.

Hubert Klumpner co-founded the architecture firm Urban-Think Tank (U-TT) with Alfredo Brillembourg in Caracas, Venezuela. In 2007 Professor Klumpner taught as a guest professor at the Graduate School of Architecture and Planning at Columbia University, where he founded the Sustainable Living Urban Model Laboratory (S.L.U.M. Lab) together with Brillembourg. Since 2010 an office in ZRH exists.

Awards (selection): Golden Lion International Architekturbiennale Venice. GoldenHolcim Award South-America. UN-Habitat Best Practice Award.  

Professor Klumpner is a regular guest critic and guest speaker at various architecture institutes, including GSD in Boston, AEDES in Berlin, UCV in Caracas, UMSA in Miami, Berlage in Rotterdam, FAU in São Paulo and University of California, Los Angeles.

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