At the Intersection of Planning and User Needs

Henriette Lutz studied architecture at the Technical University of Munich. As a research assistant at Bern University of Applied Sciences, she was a member of the leadership team at the Institute for Urban Planning, Architecture and Construction. She is currently engaged in research and teaching at the Technical University of Munich, as well as working as a independent architect, researcher and author in Zurich.
In 2025, Henriette Lutz completed a Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) in the History and Theory of Architecture at ETH Zurich, where she conducted research into the development of public spaces from a multi-perspective approach.
A key focus of her work is the interdisciplinary and participatory study of housing construction, with an emphasis on social and health perspectives. At the end of 2025, her book *Frauen leben im Neubühl* was published by Jovis Verlag, for which she served as co-editor.
Since 2026, she has been pursuing her PhD at the Technical University of Darmstadt under the supervision of Prof. Dr Sandra Meireis, investigating the relationship between planning and user perspectives in housing construction. Her doctoral thesis centres on the housing satisfaction studies conducted by the Swiss housing researcher Hanni Zahner in the 1950s.
Since 2021, as co-founder of Research Walkers, Henriette Lutz has been engaged in teaching, research and practice relating to experimental perceptual walks that explore issues of diversity in walkable spaces. In this context, she has also engaged intensively with the science of walking as developed by Annemarie and Lucius Burckhardt.
As a board member of créatrices.ch – Women Design Switzerland – she is committed to gender equality, and as a board member of Fussverkehr Schweiz, she advocates for walkable cities.