Ulrich Geissler: "New opportunities may come up when people share their network"

You graduated in architecture at ETH. What memories do you have from your student time?

I did my first two years in Zurich, up to my "Vordiplom", and then I went to EPFL. I remember that it was a lot of hard work. It was also a profound education and very focused. I am originally from St. Gallen, but I made many new friends in both Zurich and Lausanne.

What made you go to Lausanne?

I wanted to open my mind and see something else. The courses in Zurich were very good, but I had the opportunity to study with Luigi Snozzi, a well-known architect from Ticino, in Lausanne. In the 1990s, there was a direction in architecture called "tendenza", and he, together with Mario Botta and others from Ticino, belonged to that group. It was a very interesting experience for a Swiss-German architect. It really was an exchange to get a different exposure of ideas and different mindsets. Nowadays, I would for example do an exchange in a university in Britain or the United States.

After your studies, what did you do?

As a child, I had lived in Hong Kong for nine years. For me, Switzerland is a beautiful environment but quite a contrast to the buzzing, fast pace of Hong Kong. So when I graduated, there was a recession, and I craved a bit of adventure and excitement. Therefore, I went to Hong Kong. However, I could not really reconnect to my childhood life. I had thought it would be easier to carve out the carefree and leisurely life I knew as a child there, however, I had to pay my dues. Eventually, I found my way around.

I spent 20 years in Hong Kong and it was very interesting. So many events and milestones happened during that time. Also, I could easily travel to Mainland China and Southeast Asia; I had projects in Macao, Vietnam and Thailand. Each country has a unique and different culture, languages and food. Therefore, Hong Kong was a good base. When I look at tumultuous current events, I am much moved. Many of my friends there now would like to leave.

Hong Kong is a very densely populated city. For family reasons, I decided to move to Canada. As a family, we were lucky to move to Vancouver, which offers more space and a wonderful outdoor lifestyle, similar to Switzerland.

What is it like to work in Vancouver?

As a Swiss-trained architect, I would like to point out some similarities and differences. At ETH, we have a contextual urban approach. We are used to building within an urban setting: the focus lies on a public space and the buildings surrounding it. Vancouver was built in a very North-American tradition where a lot of space is available. Vancouver does not really have a public plaza to gather. Everything is quite spread out. This is the biggest difference in terms of the cities.

In Canada, there is a lot of light frame timber construction. Recently there is an interest to build larger buildings with massive timber, as an alternative to concrete and steel, which reduces the carbon footprint and enables construction to be expressed differently. In Switzerland, we can look back at a longer tradition building with wood. Therefore, in Vancouver, I think that there is some potential for knowledge transfer.

The city introduced new taxes last year to curb the inflating property prices which slowed down development, but there is now more work for affordable housing and infrastructure. Architects with expertise in mass timber construction and specialists in hospital design can possibly find a good opportunity here to work.

You are now the president of the newly created Alumni Chapter Pacific Northwest. Can you tell us about your goals?

With some friends, I had already started the Alumni Chapter in Hong Kong. Another founding colleague in Hong Kong had also moved to Vancouver in the meantime. We kept in touch and eventually met another Swiss alumnus from EPFL. So the three of us discussed a chapter in Vancouver. Furthermore, one of our bosses is also an ETH Alumnus, and we were able to get him as a sponsor. He builds Assisted Living homes for seniors in Vancouver. He loves the Swiss education system and likes to hire Swiss architects, as well as alumni from ETH. As a group, this works perfectly. We also have great support from the Swiss Consulate in Vancouver.

We would like to meet every two months and so far, we have had a couple of gatherings already. We have had great response to start with. The idea is that one of the members shares his or her work or some topic of interest each time at a gathering. The person gets around 20 minutes to present and afterwards we have drinks and discussion. It is exciting to see what other people do, although they are not from the same faculty or industry. It is a bit like a home away from home.

New opportunities may come up when people share their network and they get inspired. Sometimes, you just want to have a drink and speak Swiss-German or French and it helps for business as well. It can open up opportunities.

Who can join the Chapter?

As founding partners, we decided to be inclusive. We welcome people from other universities or from different backgrounds. If they are interested, they can join and participate in our meetings.

We reach out through different channels to build our member base. If somebody visits Vancouver or the surrounding area for a limited amount of time, I would encourage him or her to contact us. Everybody who wants to contribute and feels like having a discussion with us can join. I would love to broaden the reach of the ETH Alumni.