Switzerland is a conceptual dream that has been realized in part due to geographical and historical circumstances, but first and foremost by conscious and robust design efforts. The country's journey in search of identity unfolds in this essay as a consistent quest for reconciliation of traditional dichotomies between rural and urban, state and community, culture and nature. In this context, an argument is developed for a multi-dimensional approach to design called "deep urbanism." Swiss architect and urbanist Markus Schaefer believes that Switzerland, in its current state of resilient and complex equilibrium, could provide inspiration on productive urban environments of the future and the practices that will be needed to operate within them effectively.

Markus Schaefer is an architect and urban researcher. He has a Master's in Architecture from Harvard University and a Master's in Science (Neurobiology) from the University of Zurich. He was the first director of AMO in Rotterdam, the think-tank and research department of OMA. Since 2003, he and Hiromi Hosoya have run Hosoya Schaefer Architects, an office for architecture, urban design, and research based in Zurich. Markus Schaefer has continued his teaching work with a professorship at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, and now at Strelka Institute in Moscow.