with Lukas Hug & Emi Lorincz
Blockchain as a technology is mostly known through cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and the understanding of it rarely goes beyond a vague idea of speculative investments and young tech-savvy millionaires. Yet blockchain has the potential to affect vast swathes of public and private life, by promising maximal transparency while maintaining the privacy of its actors. In the eighth talk of the seminar week, the studio spoke to Lukas Hug from the digital asset bank Sygnum, and Emi Lorincz, Director Sales & Business Development at Ledger.
Lukas Hug holds a Master’s degree in international affairs and a Bachelor degree in business and economics. In 2018 he joined Sygnum and became vice president of product management and digital assets AML SME. Sygnum is a globally operating, regulated Digital Asset Bank, founded in 2017. The company aims to empower institutional, corporate, and private investors, as well as banks and other financial institutions, to invest in the digital asset economy. Lukas Hug main focus is on digital transformation, banking and blockchain technology.
Emi Lorincz professional background ranges from corporate finance to aircraft financing and later to commodity trading. Since 2017 her focus has been directed towards the evolving world of start-ups around digital assets and blockchain technology. Bringing a wealth of work experience from the traditional markets and the field of cryptocurrencies, she enjoys combining these two worlds to help companies benefit from both. Dedicated to increasing the usage and adoption of cryptocurrencies, Emi is engaged in rolling-out the enterprise-grade solution of the security company Ledger while serving on the council of the Bancor Foundation and on the board of the Crypto Valley Association.
Related news
Students from Studio Adam Caruso at ETH Zurich present their projects to a panel of guest critics including Marianna Charitonidou, Fredi Fischli and Niels Olson.
Students in studio Adam Caruso at ETH Zurich will spend their Autumn semester exploring the sensibility of the interim; looking to the long history in the built environment of improvising and adapting.
The Architecture Foundation presents a week of seminars from 19-22 October 2020 curated by Studio Adam Caruso at ETH Zürich exploring the architecture of crisis. Invited speakers include Carolyn Steel, Summer Islam, Paloma Gormley and others in the disciplines of architecture, politics and economics. Across 9 talks over 4 days, panelists will be asked to reflect upon the unit's posed question: What is Next?
On Saturday 26th of September there will be a public viewing of the newly completed Im Gut residential estate on Gutstrasse in Zurich. Developed in collaboration with Lütjens Padmanabhan Architects, the project for the housing cooperative im Gut renews the existing housing stock with around one hundred apartments, a kindergarten, and cooperative offices.
Exhibition
Haussmann Studiolo
Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur
Chur, Switzerland
14 November 2026 – 14 March 2027
The Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur presents Haussmann Studiolo, an exhibition dedicated to the pioneering Swiss architects and designers Trix and Robert Haussmann. Returning to Chur, where Trix Haussmann was born in 1933 and spent her formative years, the exhibition celebrates the couple's influential contribution to 20th-century Swiss design, architecture, and interior design. The exhibition is curated by Adam Caruso and Stephan Kunz and designed by Caruso St John Architects.
Exhibition
Out of Service?
Swiss Sacred Architecture in Transition
ZAZ BELLERIVE, Zurich
18 September 2026 – 7 February 2027
The exhibition Out of Service? – Swiss Sacred Architecture in Transition opens Friday 18th of September at ZAZ BELLERIVE, the centre for Architecture in Zurich. Through an exhibition of Swiss projects, this initiative highlights how sacred buildings that were once central to community life can be transformed to preserve their architectural and cultural value for future generations. Caruso St John is showcasing their work for the St Gallen Cathedral.
Newport Street Gallery won the Stirling Prize in 2016. To mark thirty years of the award, RIBA is hosting a celebration ceremony at Old Billingsgate, where the 2026 winner will also be announced. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Stirling Prize-winning project of the past three decades via the RIBA website.
Royale Belge, a collaboration by Caruso St John Architects with Bovenbouw Architectuur and DDS+, has been shortlisted for the RIBA 2026 International Prize. Four projects were shortlisted from the 34 schemes given RIBA International Awards for Excellence in June.
The jury will visit the projects next week and the winner will be announced at this year's Stirling Prize ceremony on 15 October 2026.
Newport Street Gallery has been shortlisted for the Brick Legacy Award at the Brick Awards 2026. The new category celebrates projects of enduring architectural quality that have stood the test of time.
Veemgebouw has won Gold in the Housing and Residential category of this year's Erich Mendelsohn Award, which recognizes architecture built in brick. The project was chosen for its sensitive transformation and adaptive reuse of a former Philips industrial warehouse. The intervention integrates a new residential volume on top of the original brick structure, establishing a clear dialogue between the historical facade and contemporary construction.
On Thursday, 10 September, Hospitalfield will host an afternoon in conversation at Custom Lane in Edinburgh. Titled The Site Conscious Practice of Artists; the Problem of the Rural Landscape is its Beauty, the event explores how cultural organizations can create hospitable, porous environments that nurture slow artistic practice while engaging broad public audiences.
The RIBA International Awards have been announced, and our project Royal Belge is a winner!
The awards aim to highlight design that tackles global challenges, and Royal Belge is praised for its adaptive reuse strategies, extending the life of a modernist icon.