Constructing Orientation

The project takes the film “Still Alice” as a point of departure and uses it as a metaphor for the progressive loss of orientation, memory and communication. These conditions are transferred from human perception to architectural space and institutional structures, where orientation becomes both a spatial and a social question.

Within the HIL building, repetitive corridors create monotony and make orientation difficult, while the courtyard and seating niches offer points of spatial and social reference.

The building also contains layered material memories: elm veneers around the courtyard bear traces of elm disease, and the original sapele mahogany furniture links the building to global timber economies and resource conflicts.

Wood becomes central as both a resource and a repository of memory. Climate change is transforming forest ecosystems, while increasing amounts of timber are directed towards energy production. Calamity wood affected by drought, pests, storms, fire or disease often remains undervalued despite its potential. Here it is understood as a material archive of ecological disturbance, preserving traces of environmental change within its structure.

The project redesigns the HIL through a “Care Core”, converting the entrance hall into a materials library and the former Baubibliothek into workshops and storage. Students construct four timber towers at the corridor ends over several semesters. Sourced from Zurich’s annual tree replacement programme, the material translates climate change into architecture, reconstructing orientation through space, pedagogy and material practice.

Master Thesis Spring 2026

Project by: Andri Heini Teaching Team: Anna Puigjaner, Pol Esteve Castelló, He Shen 何珅, Ethel Baraona Pohl, Lisa Maillard, Paule Perron, Valentina Noce. In Collaboration with Guillaume Habert and He Yufei (BUK).

Images 6, 11, 12, 15: Luís Úrculo