Martina Hügli
MSc Architecture ETH
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What’s Left
Manifestation von Träumen im Blenden der Architekturen Istriens
Focus Work
Chair of the History of Art and Architecture
ETH Zürich
This thesis investigates the manifestation of dreams within the architectural landscapes of Istria, viewed through the lens of personal family history, migration, and architectural practice. It begins with the story of a family building a house by the sea in Istria, shaped both by memories of childhood summers and by the contrasts between Swiss and Croatian architectural traditions.
The work explores questions of identity, belonging, and the experience of being simultaneously insider and outsider. It reflects on the cultural, historical, and economic transformations of the region, from Yugoslavia to contemporary Croatia, and their impact on architecture and everyday life. Particular attention is given to the proliferation of new white houses, often dismissed as commercial and anonymous, yet deeply tied to the dreams of return, financial security, and self-realization for many who have lived abroad.
By confronting different value systems—the academic discourse of architecture in Switzerland and the lived realities of construction in Istria—the thesis examines the tensions between romanticized projections of the Mediterranean and the actual built environment. It argues that these houses embody not only aesthetics shaped by technical and economic conditions, but also complex layers of longing, memory, and social aspiration.
The work does not aim to resolve these contradictions but to trace the "flickering" of identities, perspectives, and interpretations. It emphasizes description over judgment, seeking an understanding of architecture as the materialization of human dreams, fears, and hopes in the context of migration, return, and belonging.