Field Work: The Terrain, The Lab, The Archive - RIOT doctoral seminar

This doctoral seminar expands the concept of ‘the field’ beyond traditional boundaries to encompass “The Terrain, the Lab, and the Archive.” Students will explore diverse fieldwork methodologies—from ethnographic observation to laboratory research to archival investigation examining the ethics, challenges, and opportunities each presents. Established scholars and emerging researchers will share their experiences of navigating various research terrains. Drawing on feminist science studies (Donna Haraway’s situated knowledge), we propose that the boundaries between “terrain”, “lab”, and “archive” are more porous than traditionally acknowledged.

Daniela Zetti (UNIL/ ETH Archiv). Dr. Daniela Zetti is a historian of technology specializing in the history of media. In 2006, she completed her studies in general history at the University of Zurich. In her licentiate thesis "Personal and Computers", she investigated the introduction of mainframe computers for the Swiss PTT postal cheque service. She completed her thesis on the emergence of German television in the post-war period at D-GESS in 2013. Most recently, Zetti was acting head of the professorship for the history of technology at the interface between the Technical University of Munich and the Deutsches Museum for two years. She is currently researching the history of the radio studios in Lausanne, La Sallaz, at the University of Lausanne (namely, radio studios as sonic spaces and technological black boxes). Daniela Zetti will take over the management of the ETH Archives of Contemporary History from November 2025.

Stefana Parascho (CRCL/ EPFL). Prof. Dr. Stefana Parascho is a researcher, architect, and educator whose work lies at the intersection of architecture, digital fabrication and computational design. She is currently an Assistant Professor at EPFL where she founded the Lab for Creative Computation (CRCL). Through her research, she has explored multi-robotic fabrication methods and their relationship to architectural design. Her goal is to strengthen the connection between design, structure, and fabrication, and boost the interdisciplinary nature of architecture through the development of accessible computational tools and robotic fabrication methods. Before joining EPFL, Stefana was an Assistant Professor at Princeton University, where she led the CREATE Lab Princeton. She completed her doctorate in 2019 at ETH Zurich, Gramazio Kohler Research.

Santiago del Hierro. Santiago del Hierro is an architect and researcher, pursuing his PhD on the expanded representation of Indigenous territory in the Northern Andean Amazon at the Chair of Prof. Milica Topalovic at ETHZ. Since 2008, his research has focused on development initiatives in the Andean Amazon, exploring how design can alternatively engage issues related to resource extraction, the expansion of agricultural frontiers, the encroachment of indigenous territories and contemporary narratives on what a post-development landscape could hopefully look like. Santiago holds a Master in Architecture from Yale University and between 2009 and 2010 was a resident researcher at the Design Department of the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht. Until 2017 he taught at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, where he developed and coordinated the Urban Design Masters program. He has also been a guest professor at the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam, the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Valencia, TU Delft, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, and Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.