Swiss Network with Ukraine

22/01/2026

The Shape of Recovery brings together reflections, practices, and analytical perspectives emerging from Ukraine’s ongoing processes of struggle, adaptation, and renewal. The book explores recovery as a transformative process intertwining civic engagement, governance, architecture, ecology, and cultural memory. It highlights how material rebuilding, institutional repair, ecological care, and collective imagination shape conditions for resilience and a shared future

Swiss Network with Ukraine members Anna Dobrova, Yegor Vlasenko, Natalia Mysak, Jonathan Banz, and Basil Roth, are among the book’s contributors. It’s edited by Anastasiia Zhuravel and published with the support of the Research Institute of Sustainability (RIFS) at GIZ.

The publication, featuring eighteen essays over three sections, traces a spectrum of recovery practices. It forms a composite picture of recovery as an evolving and relational process. Sustainability in the Ukrainian context cannot be reduced to metrics or frameworks but must be understood as a practice of care—toward territory, community, and environment alike.

The Shape of Recovery is available for download: https://reimaginecity.org/projects/the-shape-of-recovery/. It will be launched on 23 January 2026, 19:30 at Café Tiergarten in Berlin.

21/12/2025

On 22–23 November, the City of Lviv and the Swiss Network with Ukraine (SNU), with support of the City and Canton of Zürich held the first workshop of the Lviv North Test Planning process. Five interdisciplinary teams—pairing Western European with Ukrainian offices—gathered in Lviv to explore the 690-hectare district and present initial ideas and questions for its long-term transformation.

Lviv North faces increasing development pressure, fragmented land ownership, and outdated regulatory plans. Yet it also holds extraordinary opportunities: extensive municipal land reserves, significant natural landscapes, and proximity to the UNBROKEN rehabilitation ecosystem.

To address this complexity, the partners have chosen a Swiss-style Test Planning procedure—a collaborative, non-competitive method designed for challenging urban areas where consensus must be built before formal planning begins. Working in parallel, teams compare scenarios, clarify priorities, and refine proposals through continuous feedback, cross-team exchange, and stakeholder engagement. The process is guided by an independent committee co-chaired by Kees Christiaanse and Anton Kolomieitsev.

The second workshop will take place in March 2026, with public participation planned for spring. Concluding recommendations are expected in July 2026

10/07/2025

The LINA platform—a European network of architecture and design institutions—is currently running an Open Call for new Fellows. METALAB, a member of the SNU, is also a member of LINA, and becoming a Fellow not only allows METALAB to invite you into their own programs, but also opens the door for you to collaborate with many leading architectural institutions across Europe. See more at:

LINA

10/06/2025

SNU members Olga Konovalova and Anastasiya Ponomaryova will present at Women in Architecture Ukraine’s “Reflect – React – Response” symposium in Berlin on June 22nd and 26th. This two-day symposium reflects on the rethinking of Ukrainian identity and shifts in Ukrainian society following the outbreak of russia’s full-scale war of aggression in early 2022. Symposium panels address the reconstruction of Ukraine in the context of cultural identity and sustainable development, as well as the role of female architects in shaping the country's future.

19/05/2025

In this month's Architectural Review, historian Adam Przywara writes about the collaboration between SNU Circular Construction members RE-WIN and CO-HATY.

03/05/2025

Our first network booklet is online. The inaugural edition outlines our purpose and the work of our thematic clusters. You can download the PDF via the link in our bio. If you would prefer a printed copy, please send us an email.

20/11/2024

On October 28-29, the cluster attention: spatial planning organised its first workshop on test planning with representatives of the cities Lviv and Zürich. Building on practical examples shared by the Planning Authorities of the Canton and City of Zürich, the workshop aimed to introduce this informal and collaborative planning method to the context of the northern periphery of Lviv. Affected by the combination of recent administrative reforms and numerous municipal-led projects designed to address the impacts of the war, this area’s development is crucial for providing medical services and housing for persons who are going through the process of rehabilitation, as well as for an improved functioning of metropolitan green, blue, and mobility infrastructures. The initial framing for a test planning procedure was set during the workshop.

22/10/2024

In September, member Martin Huber, with .ua, opened an innovative 2-story, 4-apartment module building on the grounds of Ivankiv Central District Hospital. These apartments were built to house the families of doctors displaced from their homes in occupied and frontline territories, who suffered unimaginable hardship and found refuge in Ivankiv. Several Ukrainian news programs covered the opening of this innovative housing. We congratulate .ukraine.hilfe .ua on this exciting achievement to help displaced families in Ukraine.

14/10/2024

Please join us for this exhibition, showcasing results of the seminar week “REPAIRING VACANCY IN UKRAINE: For Those Who Lost Their Home During War” that took place in March 2024 at ETH Zurich. The seminar addressed Ukraine’s housing crisis amidst an ongoing war, focusing on repurposing a municipal house in Lviv. The exhibition presents a collection of building components and furniture mock-ups, drawings, and images created by 21 talented students who participated in the seminar week. It also includes interviews that reflect on the students’ work and provide a theoretical framework for their approaches to reuse.

02/10/2024

Find the statement as a PDF on our page -> https://www.swissnetworkwithukraine.org/statements

23/09/2024

A statement on behalf of the Swiss Network with Ukraine regarding the Zurich Film Festival’s poor decision to screen “Russians at War.” Take note,