Reversible Designs

Photo © Dominik Reisach

Design–Build Project · ETH Zürich, D-ARCH, CH · 2025

Reversible Designs was a seminar week taught at ETH Zürich that explored reversible design and hands-on construction within ETH Hangar in Dübendorf, CH. The site’s asphalted forecourt, formerly used for aircraft, currently lacked seating and shade. In dialogue with the students working at ETH Hangar in mobility, robotics, energy, and aerospace, participants developed modular furniture systems tailored to the diverse needs of their users. Working with recycled and leftover materials, the workshop introduced principles of furniture design, upcycling, and digital fabrication. Participants used the Shaper Origin hand-held CNC router to develop contemporary, reversible timber joints and investigate how design-for-disassembly can extend the life of materials and objects. The seminar week culminated in the full-scale production of several furniture objects.

Teaching & Organisation Team
Yves Ebnöther (ZHaW), Dominik Reisach, Thierry Tardent (ETH Hangar), Anne Fabritius, Clément Estreicher
Student Team
William Boger, Tobias Bolt, Lucia Decalf, Sara Frei, Karin Gromann, Nils Hegi, Noah Hermle, Peer Hess, Frederic Holstein, Bettina Lehrer, Till Moosberger, Isabella Mündle, Max Orban, Viviane Seiz, Jael Spalinger, Julian Traugott, Joris Weiss, Antonia Maria Wutte, Margaryta Zimarina
Reclaimed wood for the furniture| Photo © Dominik Reisach
Shaper Origin | Photo © Dominik Reisach
Pop-Up Workshop @ ETH Hangar | Photo © Dominik Reisach
Heilige Dreihaltigkeit | Photo © Tobias Bolt, Margaryta Zimarina, Joris Weiss, Julian Traugott
Am Band | Photo © Yves Ebnöther
Hangbar | Photo © Yves Ebnöther
Photo © Bettina Lehrer, Jael Spalinger, William Boger, Frederic Holstein
Un-Focus Chair | Photo © Dominik Reisach
Clothes Hanger | Photo © Yves Ebnöther
Brett À Porter | Photo © Nils Hegi, Noah Hermle, Max Orban, Peer Hess
Brett À Porter | Photo © Nils Hegi, Noah Hermle, Max Orban, Peer Hess
Photo © Dominik Reisach
Student & Teaching Team | Photo © Max Orban
© 2026 Dominik Reisach. All Rights Reserved.