In the summer of 2020, a remote drawing workshop was organized via Zoom meetings on the topics of learning and working spaces in times of pandemic with architecture students from ETH. The work that emerges from this summer workshop, through the students’ personal experiences and research, reflects not only how the pandemic has affected their working and learning environments, but also the influence that the pandemic may have had on life in existing territorial and built structures.
From villages in rural areas embedded in a strong natural landscape to the urban centres of the 19th and 20th century, from the gardens of suburban developments to the light urbanity of small centralities, the numerous personal stories told through hand drawings take us on a journey through the typologies of the built environment, the uses and appropriations of private and public spaces, both inside and outside, and enlighten us on the possible uses of our urban territories and their critical characteristics.
The creativity and sensitivity of the students offer valuable and multifaceted insights into life’s capacity for renewal in difficult times. Thus, architectural and anthropological research are brought together with the practice of drawing as a research tool.