Professor Mariam Issoufou’s Chair of Architecture Heritage and Sustainability is a design and research chair at ETH Zurich that explores architecture heritage and sustainability through decolonial and intersectional lenses. It challenges the universalising assumptions embedded in architectural history, preservation, and sustainability, which are often rooted in Eurocentrism, coloniality, and extractive capitalism. The Chair emphasises the profound interconnections between the local and the global, which have been shaped by centuries of colonialism. From this standpoint, architectural design involves transforming various harmful aspects of building practices, including the sourcing of materials, labour conditions, polluting industries, and construction methods. It also considers the historical context of buildings, their impact on contemporary society, and how they shape possible futurities.

The Chair understands heritage as a global, multilayered inheritance. This encompasses not only the finished form of buildings, but also the processes of their conception and construction, including extractive practices, environmental impact, and the violent histories of design they may embody. Embracing heritage in all its forms means confronting not only what is celebrated, but also its broader implications. Rather than conforming to the conventional notion of “heritage” as being solely concerned with preservation or aesthetic and cultural value, the Chair explores the architect's role in defining and shaping future heritage, its implications for local society, and the significance of that definition in an interconnected and globalised world.

Consequently, sustainability is not viewed as merely a technical solution or a matter of carbon metrics. Rather, it is understood as an extension of heritage and an ethical commitment to material and the societal consequences of design. This is what we call intersectional sustainability. Studio Issoufou recognises that designing architecture is a political act that must be contextualised and held accountable in order to bring about positive transformation for present and future generations, particularly in the context of climate change. By focusing on localized issues, the Chair shows that the local and the global are inherently connected, and that local change can have wide-reaching global, and potentially, recentering decolonial effects.

With this mind, students are encouraged to approach and interrogate Swiss architecture with curiosity and openness, exploring new possibilities and learning from diverse forms of local and global building heritage. This approach fosters more sustainable architectural practices by connecting design decisions to economic, social, environmental, and historical responsibility. All design studios focus on transforming the built environment in Switzerland.