Doctoral research: Geneva – a place of “sedimentary urbanism”. Investigating André Corboz’s research practices, tools and contribution to the history of urbanism as a discipline

This doctoral project is situated within the fields or urban history, theory and architecture. It forms part of a larger research project supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation entitled “André Corboz’s hermeneutics of urban and territorial form: research practices, concepts and methodologies.” Building on existing literature and insights gained from the 2022 exhibition “Le Territoire comme Palimpseste. L’héritage d’André Corboz”, the project will, for the first time, examine Corboz's entire intellectual career, from his early works in the second half of the 1950s to his late writings and research projects in the early 2000s.
In that context, this doctoral project argues that Corboz’s long-lasting research activity on Geneva requires further exploration, both in terms of its methodological dimensions and of the unique and original knowledge produced. The dissertation will focus on disciplinary and methodological issues within the history of urbanism, using Corboz’s Genevan work as a case study.