Place To Be

The project is inspired by the documentary Crip Camp – A Disability Revolution, which portrays a summer camp where teenagers with disabilities experienced safety, belonging, and freedom. Within this protected environment, they were able to act independently, take responsibility, and develop a strong sense of self-determination.

Dependency was redefined as part of a supportive community, allowing a collective voice to emerge. This idea is transferred to ETH Zürich.

While the HIL cannot exist without its students, there is no space where they can truly take ownership, shape their environment, and unfold their potential. The Care Core addresses this condition by understanding the courtyard as the heart of ETH, a space centered on students and their needs.

The existing light well is transformed into an atrium. Its introverted character is preserved but activated through a spiraling ramp that connects the new volume to the existing structure. Subtle expansions along the ramp create spaces to inhabit, while curtains provide temporary retreats.

The central area remains open as a collective space that can be appropriated and shaped by its users. Stainless steel is the project's key material. Applied at balustrades and ramp elements, it creates tactile points of contact that support orientation, accessibility, and spatial appropriation. Materiality thus becomes part of the social intention of the project: fostering autonomy, participation, and community through everyday interaction with architecture.

Spring 2026 Project by: Anastasia Lupo 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 1, 4, 7, 8: Luís Úrculo