“ETH Zurich Met New York”: a retrospective in the Main Building
In May, ETH Zurich made an appearance in the USA at the “Zürich meets New York” festival. A retrospective of this event is now going on show in ETH’s Main Building from 22 July to 12 August.
“The ETH community should be aware of how we present ourselves outside Switzerland,” says Jürg Brunnschweiler, Head of ETH Global. What visionary movements and ideas were born in Zurich? And what impact have they had on modern America? Questions like these were put up for discussion at “Zürich meets New York: A Festival of Swiss Ingenuity”, which was held in New York from 16 to 23 May.
The festival was organised jointly by ETH Zurich, the City of Zurich, the University of Zurich and the Consulate General of Switzerland in New York. Over 25 events took place in various locations, 11 of which were run by ETH Zurich and organised by ETH Global. A delegation of more than 30 people from ETH Zurich was involved – including ETH President Ralph Eichler, Rector Lino Guzzella and numerous professors.
Now, the “ETH Zurich Met New York” retrospective – complete with videos, banners and photo walls – is showing how ETH Zurich presented itself in New York. The exhibition is being held from 22 July to 12 August in the Main Hall of ETH Zurich’s Main Building.
A stage for showcasing ETH Zurich
“ETH Global is responsible for positioning our institution abroad as a leading university of sciences and technology. The USA is the most important market for ETH and that’s where it wants to be known – amongst future students and researchers and in the start-up scene,” says Brunnschweiler.
The week in New York has made a big impact, according to Brunnschweiler: “The festival was a great stage for showcasing ETH Zurich. What we accomplished during those few days has left an impression on everyone who saw us,” he says. “The feedback we received was invariably positive.”
New projects and opportunities have emerged as a result of networking at the festival’s various events: for example, New York’s New Museum is considering working with ETH Zurich in future as part of its external page“Ideas City” festival and possibly holding one of its Global Conferences in Zurich.
2016 festival in San Francisco
Planning is also already underway for a similar festival in San Francisco in 2016. “Like the greater metropolitan area of New York, which looks set to become established as ‘Silicon Alley’ over the next few decades, San Franscisco’s Bay Area with Silicon Valley offers ETH Zurich an extremely attractive environment for research collaboration,” says Brunnschweiler, “Our aim is, by then, to develop an exhibition that enables us to present ETH Zurich to the world as an innovative university in a compact and attractive way.”
Brunnschweiler sees the university’s appearance in New York as an important step in this direction, as the retrospective in the Main Building demonstrates to impressive effect.