Zurich Atlas and Zurich Primer

The combined volumes Zurich Atlas: An Archaeology of Urban Codes and Forms and Zurich Primer: A Propositional Planning Vision for the City offer complementary and interrelated understandings of Zurich’s historic and future development.

Both books are centred around five shared themes, ‘Housing’, ‘Public Realm and Movement’, ‘Heritage’, ‘Public Buildings’, and ‘Employment’. Zurich Atlas comprises essays working with an abundance of archival material to reveal the historic reciprocating dynamics between regulatory, legal, and normative frameworks, and physical and social conditions – the processes that have ultimately informed the fabric of the city as found today. Zurich Primer builds on this foundation with further critical examination of the present-day city and its codes, proposing scenarios through which the city can accommodate expected population growth over the next two decades. This research is presented through essays, drawings, dialogues and photography.