Architecture of Territory | Prof. Milica Topalovic: Who Organizes Interim Use?

This Focus Work investigates how one organisation supports, manages, or enables the interim use of vacant buildings or sites. It examines the distribution of responsibilities, the goals behind its founding, and its effects on the availability of space within its specific context. Students will research relevant statistics, review documents, and conduct interviews with users and organisers to create an organisational profile. Documenting the effects that interim use as a city-wide practice can have on a city, depending on the organisation behind it.

Apply until: 28.09.2026 – email to jakob.walter@arch.ethz.ch

CASE STUDY

Choose an organisation anywhere in the world that works with interim use. It could be a non-profit organisation, such as HausHalten e.V., a public institution, such as Raumbörse, or a profit-driven company, such as Projekt Interim Gmbh.
The interim use can serve different purposes, from responding to a lack of affordable space, activating empty buildings, creating cultural value through pioneer users, to keeping squatters out, bypassing tenant regulations or creating business opportunities.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Examine how the selected organisation works and what role it plays in its specific context, considering the following questions:

– What problem is the chosen organisation trying to solve? Examples: vacancy, lack of affordable space, business opportunities, urban decline.
– What mainly causes the apparition of a space for interim use? Examples: lack of demand, forced vacancy, regulations, speculative holding.
– How does interim use usually work in this location? Examples: rent calculation, fixed costs, insurance, application process, lottery system.
– How does the organisation support interim use? Examples: distribution, coordination, management, communication, advertisement.
– Who are the people behind the organisation? Examples: training, background, motivation, professional roles.

METHODOLOGY

Production of at least two video interviews with relevant actors, ideally in person, in parallel of a preliminary document review and online research.
The output should be an online reportage about the organisation and its approach to interim use, including a short-written analysis, an edited video with interviews and an organisational or process diagram.

SCHEDULE

Friday, 09.10.2026, 13:00–15:00 — Introductory Meeting, ONA, G41
Friday, 30.10.2026, 13:00–16:00 — Group Discussion, ONA, G41
Friday, 20.11.2026, 13:00–16:00 — Individual Discussion, Zoom
Monday, 30.11.2026, 09:00–12:00 — Research presentations with Prof. Topalović and Meike Stender, ONA, G41
Friday, 17.12.2026, 13:00–16:00 — Individual Discussion, Zoom
Friday, 07.01.2027, 13:00–16:00 — Individual Discussion, Zoom
Friday, 21.01.2027, 13:00–16:00 — Individual Discussion, Zoom
Monday, 08.02.2027, 13:00–17:00 — Project Presentations with Prof. Topalović, Meike Stender, ONA, G41