Dr. sc. Maxime Zaugg is an architect and senior lecturer in the History and Theory of Urban Design at the Department of Architecture, ZHAW, affiliated with the Institute Urban Landscape (IUL), where he is engaged in both teaching and research. His doctoral research at ETH Zurich, Exploring Public Urban Models, analysed the performative and participatory roles of urban scale models in planning processes from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. He founded STUDIO ZAUGG, a practice operating at the intersection of architecture and the city. STUDIO ZAUGG engages with competitions, urban research, exhibitions, workshops, and built projects, using both physical and digital tools to mediate urban transformation.

 

Focus Areas

Tools of urban design and their public use

Physical and digital models in urban planning

Interdisciplinary research on urban transformation

Participation and dialogue in urban design processes

Cultural and spatial dynamics in urban design in Switzerland

​​​

Teaching at ZHAW

Dr. sc. Maxime Zaugg teaches across Bachelor's, Master's, and continuing education programmes at ZHAW. His courses include the compulsory modules Urban Design History 1–4 (2nd and 3rd year BA) and Urban Design Theory (TAS 1, 1st and 2nd year MA), as well as the elective Urban Design 2 – Stadt im Dialog (2nd year MA). He also contributes to continuing education programmes, including the CAS Städtebau and the CAS Stadtraum Digital

​

Education

2020–2024 - Doctor of Sciences (Dr. sc. ETH Zurich), Chair of the History and Theory of Urban Design, Prof. Dr. Tom Avermaete, gta Institute, ETH Zurich

2016–2019 - Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Architecture, ETH Zurich

2012–2015 - Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Architecture, FHNW University of Applied Sciences, Basel

2009–2010 - Federal Matura in Art and Design, School of Design Bern

2004–2008 - Apprenticeship as a Draftsman (specialization in Architecture), Steffisburg

​

​ORCID Digital Identifier

ORCID ID: 0009-0009-3717-6660

​

Publikationen (Auswahl)

Zaugg, Maxime, 2024. In the eye of the beholder : new techniques of representation for public urban scale models. In: Meister, Anna-Maria; Fankhänel, Teresa; Beißwanger, Lisa; Dähne, Chris; Fülscher, Christiane; Schubert, Anna Luise, eds., Are You a Model? On an Architectural Medium of Spatial Exploration. Berlin: JOVIS. pp. 64-67.

Zaugg, Maxime, 2024. Gespielter Dialog : play the city mit Ekim Tan. Werk, Bauen + Wohnen. 2024(5). Available from: https://www.wbw.ch/de/online/artikel/52024-gespielter-dialog.html

Zaugg, Maxime, 2023. Talking Urban Scale Models : Les Halles Redevelopment Project in Paris and its Public Exhibitions (1968-1982). Livraisons d'Histoire de l'Architecture: Exposer l'architecture I. Available from: https://doi.org/10.4000/lha.9582

Zaugg, Maxime, 2023. Scaling up public participation in urban design : lessons from the ZAC Mont Hermé case study and the role of physical urban scale models [Paper]. In: Symposium of Urban Design History and Theory, Delft, The Netherlands, 1-3 November 2023.

Zaugg, Maxime, 2023. Arteplagemodell Swiss National Expo 02. In: Exhibition “Unausgesprochenes Wissen / Unspoken Knowledge / Le (savoir) non-dit”, Communities of Tacit Knowledge Architecture and its Ways of Knowing, ETH Zürich, Schweiz, 19.-21. Juni 2023.

Avermaete, Tom; Zaugg, Maxime, eds., 2022. Agadir : Building the Modern Afropolis. 1st edition. Zürich: Park Books. ISBN 978-3-03860-276-7. (Auch veröffentlicht als *Agadir : la construction d'une Afropole moderne * (French, 2023) und *أغادير: بناء مدينة أفروبوليس الحديثة* (Arabic, 2023), Azigzago Verlag, Marokko.)​

Zaugg, Maxime, 2022. In the eye of the beholder : new techniques of representation for public urban scale models [Paper]. In: Internationale Konferenz "Are You a Model?", Technische Universität Darmstadt, Deutschland, 2.-4. November 2022.

Zaugg, Maxime, 2022. ‘Stadtplanung geht uns alle an’ (urban planning concerns us all) and Berlin’s Vitrinen from 1957-1960 [Paper]. In: Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) 75th International Conference, Pittsburgh, USA, 27 April - 1 May 2022.

Zaugg, Maxime, 2021. The Projet Urbain of Euralille : urban scale models and the public [Paper]. In: ‘Histories of Urban Design: Global Trajectories and Local Realities’ Conference, ETH Zürich, Switzerland, 15-17 November 2021.

Gosseye, Janina; Zaugg, Maxime, 2021. The emergence of urban design and the public agency of the maquette [Paper]. In: Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) 74th International Conference, online, 13-17 April 2021.

Zaugg, Maxime, 2021. Le Corbusier’s cornice. gta papers. (6), pp. 85-91. Available from: https://doi.org/10.54872/gta-pap-6

Can, Luca; Zaugg, Maxime, 2022. Die Werkzeuge einer neuen Wirklichkeit. Du - das Kulturmagazin. (910), pp. 54-63.

Zaugg, Maxime. 2021. Ausstellung in der Grafischen Sammlung ETH Zürich. “Die unterschätzte Horizontale. Das Gesims in Kunst und Architektur”, 25.08 - 14.11. Zürich

Zaugg, Maxime, 2021. Spatial specificities of the balcony: between exposure & enclosure in: GTA-Papers special edition: Social Distance, collaborative article. ISBN 978-3-85676-415-9.

Zaugg, Maxime, 2021. “The Balcony. A Zurich Lexicon”, mit Tom Avermaete, Sara Frikech, Maaike Goedkoop,Hamish Lonergan, Hans Teerds, (Zurich: Chair of the History and Theory of Urban Design/Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture (gta), 2021).

Zaugg, Maxime, 2020. “Exploring Urban Scale Models” (Online, Zürich: NSL, Netzwerk Stadt und Landschaft) Beitrag für vierteljährlich erscheinenden Newsletter 48, Dezember 2020: Communication/Mediation.

Zaugg, Maxime. 2015. “Einfach Basel, Die Perlen der Stadt”, Little Stories, Text und Fotografie.

​​

Ongoing Projects 

- Co-Curator of the exhibition Built from Dust – Earth, Soil and the Modern Afropolis, ETH Zurich (26 February – 16 May 2025), including the accompanying symposium. Funded by the Swiss Embassy in Morocco and the Moroccan Embassy in Switzerland, with additional support from the Swiss Red Cross. 

- ZHAW Walks: Explore and Exchange Interdisciplinary Practices. Funded by ZHAW Sustainable.

- Co-Curator of the exhibition Agadir – Un Urbanisme sur Mesure. Musée de la Reconstruction, Agadir, Morocco.

- A Look into the Future: Urban Planning for All with the Public Digital 3D City Model of Winterthur. Funding Partner: ZHAW Digital, Digital Futures Fund. The project aims to make the digital 3D city model of Winterthur accessible to the general public. This is made possible through the use of an app in combination with VR (virtual reality) technology. Citizens have the opportunity to view planned urban development changes, for example in the context of municipal or cantonal referenda. An integrated chat function allows them to actively participate in discussions and debates on sustainable urban development.

​

Institutional Engagement
2025: Delegate to the University Assembly of ZHAW
2020–2022: Active member and from 2021 President of the AAA (Association of Assistants at the Department of Architecture), ETH Zurich
2020–2021: Representative and coordinator of the gta-Invites lecture series, ETH Zurich
2019–2021: Examination expert for the qualification process ZFA (former draftsmen in architecture), Department of Education, Canton of Zurich
2019–2021: Board member and co-organizer of the Schwerpunkte symposia at ETH Zurich

​

Awards and Fellowships:

-Gill Family Foundation Fellowship for the SAH 2021 74th Annual International Virtual Conference.

​

​