ETH Zurich, Main Building, Semper Auditorium (HG G 60)
At the dawn of the 19th century, the invention of new materials, structures, and machinery gradually began to transform the relationship between architecture and architectural tradition, a time coinciding with the establishment of national patent systems. Although it is hard to imagine the innovative, technical, and creative aspects of architecture without patents, it is only in recent years that they have received increased academic attention in the history of architecture and construction. The ongoing research project “Architecture & Patents” at the Professorship Construction Heritage and Preservation of Prof. Dr. Silke Langenberg, ETH Zurich, investigates the role of patents within the extensive building stock of the ETH Domain from 1855 to the present day. The international conference “Architecture & Patents”—opening June 18, 2025—will provide an academic platform for exchanging on the topic in a wider context. It covers the 19th through 21st century and deals with legal, historical, and architectural questions; materials and processes; construction heritage and newest developments in digital fabrication.
12:45 Registration
13:30 Welcome and Introduction
Opening Remarks and Introduction
Silke Langenberg and Robin Rehm (ETH Zurich)
“The patent as a collective obsession” – Thoughts on Patent Research
Sarah M. Schlachetzki (ETH Zurich)
14:40 IP and Law (Moderation: Robin Rehm)
From Form to Function: A Patent Attorney’s Perspective of Architecture
Zacharias Stelzer (E. Blum & Co. Ltd.)
Architects’ Patents and the Profession in 19th Century Britain
Marta Iljadica (University of Glasgow)
15:50 Coffee Break
16:20 Perspectives on Recent Patents (Moderation: Robin Rehm)
US-D827154-S: Steve Jobs Theatre and the Rise of a New Patentism
Georgios Eftaxiopoulos (University of California, Berkeley)
Why Patent?
Andrei Koshelev (ETH Zurich)
17:30 Break
18:00 Keynote
Better Living Through Chemistry?: BASF, 3M, and DuPont’s Chemical Patents for the Building Industry in Critical Perspective
Peter H. Christensen (University of Rochester)
19:00 Apéro
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09:00 (Trans-)National Perspectives (Moderation: Andreas Putz, Technical University of Munich)
A Nexus of Design Innovation: Patents, Exhibitions, and Knowledge Sharing in 19th-Century South Kensington
Simona Valeriani (V&A Research Institute, Victoria and Albert Museum)
Patents and Patterns: Moving methods through the Gilardoni and Marseille roof tiles (1841–)
Asha Sumra (Aarhus School of Architecture)
Patents – Hiding Social History
Nigel Isaacs (Victoria University of Wellington)
10:45 Coffee Break
11:15 Innovating Wood Constructions (Moderation: Andreas Putz)
Otto Hetzer’s Patents and Their Role in Industrial Timber Construction
Alexander von Kienlin (Technical University of Munich)
Patents and Standards – Assessing Innovation in 20th-Century Timber Construction
Jonatan Anders (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar)
12:25 Lunch Break
14:00 Inventions in Metal Façades (Moderation: Kirsten Angermann, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar)
Patents in Practice: Ernst Koller and the Standardization of Swiss Metal Façades 1925–1960
Nina Irmert (ETH Zurich)
Competition and Collaboration: Intellectual Property of Swiss Façade Producers, 1960–1975
Tiago Matthes (ETH Zurich)
15:10 Coffee Break
15:40 Patents in Cultural History (Moderation: Kirsten Angermann)
Constructive Form and Graphic Design – Building Systems between Trademark and Patent
Rouven Grom and Andreas Putz (Technical University of Munich)
Architecture and Intellectual Maternity by Patents. Frances Gabe’s Self-Cleaning House and the Legacy of Non-Pedigreed Architects
Laura Mucciolo (Sapienza University of Rome)
Reading Patents Against the Grain
Laurent Stalder (ETH Zurich)
17:30 End of Conference Day 2
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09:00 Towards Digital Architecture (Moderation: Silke Langenberg)
From Material to Market: How Materiality Drives Innovation Transfer in Architectural Technologies
Tizian Rein, Marcel Studer, and Dominik Reisach (ETH Zurich)
[title tbd]
Benjamin Dillenburger (ETH Zurich) and Matthias Leschok (SAEKI Robotics AG)
10:10 Coffee Break
10:30 Patents as Construction Heritage (Moderation: Silke Langenberg)
Camus-Dietsch Panel Tectonics’ Past and Present
Carsten Diez (baubar urbanlaboratorium, Saarbrücken) and Volker Ziegler (École nationale supérieure d’architecture, Strasbourg)
The Tangible and Intangible Heritage of Proto-Design for the Disassembly in Post-War Italy: An Industrial Patent-Based Perspective
Alberto Bologna (Sapienza University of Rome) and Ilaria Giannetti (University of Rome Tor Vergata)
Precast Concrete Roof Shells in East and West Germany – Patents, Application and Reception
Tanja Scheffler (Dresden University of Technology)
Closing Remarks
Silke Langenberg (ETH Zurich)
12:30 End of the Conference
Registration necessary. Register here: www.idb.arch.ethz.ch/en/events/Architectureandpatents
Contact: patents@arch.ethz.ch
The conference is kindly sponsored by Ernst und Herta Koller-Ritter-Stiftung, H. Lüdi + Co. AG und Mero TSK. The research project “Architecture & Patents. The Buildings of the ETH Domain” is financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation.
