All Things Urban

This one-year, full-time postgraduate programme is receiving it’s sixth cohort of participants in autumn 2026. It is taught in English and held at the two top Swiss schools, EPFL (Autumn) and ETH Zürich (Spring). The participants receive a 60 ECTS joint degree, the “MAS ETH EPFL UTD I.” **The Territorial Project for Social and Ecological Change** Urban and territorial design lies at the core of complex spatial questions and increasing urgencies. From drivers of progress to the source of planetary hazards, the impacts of cities and urbanisation processes are being recast in the public sphere. The critical examination of anthropocentric world views, the greening of politics and economies, growing social polarisation and uneven development, protest movements and climate activism, are reflected in urban and territorial space, highlighting power asymmetries and the urgent need for alternatives. The future of the urban engages social and environmental imaginaries, which now extend beyond-the-city and beyond-the-human. Rather than an object, we understand territory as a subject in dialogue with other subjects, and space as an agent of socioecological change. The MAS programme embraces such a transition as a field of critical and imaginative investigation based on the principles of social and environmental equity and justice. Engaging with notions of transformation, reuse, circularity, regeneration, reparation and transition of habitats and ecologies, the MAS deploys the urban and territorial project as a means to explore common epistemic horizons and new biopolitical paradigms, and as a crucial field of knowledge production across scales. The joint Master of Advanced Studies at the ETH Zürich and EPFL builds an innovative urban and territorial design education addressing social and environmental challenges both within the city-territory and across wider landscapes. Design and research studios form the core of the programme, where design is explored as a tool for synthesis within inter- and transdisciplinary exchange involving science, practice and governance. The extended scope of urban design teaching includes both emerging developments in urban theory and a deeper understanding of the cultural and ecological dimensions of territories. Scientific research on planetary urbanisation, postcolonial thought, political economy and post-extraction will be engaged in relation to urban design, landscape architecture, urban and agricultural ecology, systems thinking, sustainable construction, renewable energy and low-carbon mobility. Public debates with innovative thinkers and practitioners are an integral part of the programme. The MAS serves as a laboratory and a forum where we propose agendas, design strategies and governance models for concrete territories. Swiss and international case studies are investigated through intensive, ethnographic explorations and in situ workshops. The programme engages in dialogue with communities, local actors, NGOs and governance bodies.

The programme is addressed to Swiss and international graduates, young professionals, designers, and researchers wishing to link research and design expertise to the extended urbanisation of territories. A previous bachelor's and master's degree (or equivalent) are required. The MAS UTD alumni is made up of fifty-seven graduates from 26 nationalities–visit their work and read their testimonials [here](https://mas-utd.arch.ethz.ch/About/Alumni).

A Masters degree (ETH-Equivalent) or a minimum of three years of study in a design discipline such as architecture, landscape architecture, civil and environmental engineering or urban planning with an additional two years of work experience is prerequisite. HOW TO APPLY For information about the programme, tuition fees, and how to apply, please contact us [here](https://mas-utd.arch.ethz.ch/) or at the [ETH School of Continuing Education](https://sce.ethz.ch/en/programmes-and-courses/search-current-courses/mas/mas-eth-epfl-utd.html). Participants requiring a visa to Switzerland must complete the application procedure before February 28, 2026. The programme is committed to cultivating a successful social environment in Switzerland and cannot be attended remotely. Support services are offered to assist in finding accommodation. **Application period**: January 1–March 31 **Timeline** - Autumn 2026 (September–January): EPFL ENAC, [Laboratory Research and Innovation on Architecture](https://riot.today/) (RIOT), Studio Charlotte Malterre-Barthes - Spring 2027 (February–June): ETH Zürich D-ARCH, [Architecture of Territory](https://topalovic.arch.ethz.ch/), Studio Milica Topalović.

60 ECTS

Collaborating teams ETH Zürich D-ARCH, [Institute of Landscape and Urban Studies](https://lus.arch.ethz.ch/) (LUS), [Prof. Milica Topalović](https://topalovic.arch.ethz.ch/): Milica Topalović, Jan Westerheide, Nancy Couling, Meike Stender, Alice Clarke, Karoline Kostka. EPFL [ENAC](https://www.epfl.ch/schools/enac/), [Habitat Research Center](https://www.epfl.ch/research/domains/habitat/) (HRC), [Prof. Charlotte Malterre-Barthes](https://people.epfl.ch/charlotte.malterrebarthes): Charlotte Malterre-Barthes, Flore Guichot, Elena Cogato Lanza, Loan Laurent. **Contact**: For further information, please contact us: Jan Westerheide - ETH MAS UTD Programme Coordinator [email protected]