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Dr. Illias Hischier

Senior Researcher
illias.hischier@arch.ethz.ch

Illllias Hischier is a Senior Researcher and Lecturer at the Chair of Architecture and Building Systems (A/S), where he works at the intersection of architecture and engineering to develop climate‑responsive and human‑centred building systems. He coordinates the chair’s teaching activities and contributes to core courses in building systems, climate and energy design, and integrated architectural teaching.

He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from ETH Zurich and received the Swisselectric Research Award for his pioneering work on high‑temperature solar receivers. His career includes industry experience as an R&D Project Manager at Hitachi Zosen Inova and an SNSF Advanced Postdoc.Mobility Fellowship at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he helped develop a hybrid solar–electric reactor and co‑led the construction of a high‑flux solar simulator.

Since returning to ETH Zurich in 2016, Illias has expanded his focus toward the ecological transformation of the built environment. His work ranges from the development of a building‑scale LED‑based Artificial Sun for full‑scale testing of façade and energy‑active building components, to robust renovation and densification strategies for the Swiss housing stock.

He currently leads an Innosuisse initiative on ecological and socially balanced vertical extensions of existing buildings in Zurich—developed in close collaboration with municipal authorities and housing cooperatives—and contributes to regenerative hybrid timber–earth construction within the Think Earth project. In education, Illias is the strategic lead behind the Integrated Design Atlas (IDA), a digital learning platform developed with nine Swiss architecture schools and the Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects to embed ecological and social sustainability knowledge directly into architectural design teaching.