Urban-Think Tank

What Urban-Think Tank does

Urban-Think Tank (U-TT), now operating as urbanthinktank_next, is a privately held architecture and urban design practice founded in 1998 in Caracas by Hubert Klumpner and Alfredo Brillembourg, and re-established in Zurich in 2019 under Klumpner as sole Design Principal and CEO after the founders' partnership ended. The firm operates an interdisciplinary model that combines academic research anchored to the ETH Zurich Chair of Architecture and Urban Design with project-based design, teaching, documentary filmmaking, and publications. Its core methodology integrates bottom-up community participation with top-down urban planning, deploying open building principles, incremental housing frameworks (the two-stage Shelter / El Hogar approach), and a patent-protected Industrialized Modular Constructive System registered in Colombia and Panama.

The practice's product portfolio spans flagship built projects such as Fábrica de Cultura in Barranquilla (a cultural facility serving 2,800 youth), the Empower Shack incremental housing prototype in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, the Caracas Metro Cable connecting 40,000 informal settlement residents, and the Vertical Gym; research and publication products including the SLUM Lab series and Gran Horizonte Media documentary films; and engagement instruments such as the studio mobil / think tank station mobile urban laboratory. The firm operates from offices in Zurich (headquarters, Hofstrasse 40), Medellín (regional office for Colombia and Latin America), Vienna, and Sarajevo, with research zones spanning Latin America, the Balkans, and Southern Africa.

Urban-Think Tank generates revenue through project-based professional service fees from municipal and government clients (Barranquilla, Cape Town, Caracas Metro, City of Sarajevo), multi-year program funding from institutional development partners (Inter-American Development Bank, Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs), academic research grants channeled through ETH Zurich, and book and publication sales. Customers are concentrated in vertical government segments (urban development, transport, cultural institutions) with a secondary academic and museum segment, and the firm leverages channels such as the Venice Biennale, MoMA, Smithsonian exhibitions, and major international architecture awards (including the 2012 Venice Biennale Golden Lion) to build reputation that drives new commissions.

Name

Urban-Think Tank

Legal name

Urban Think Tank, Hubert Klumpner Architekten GmbH

Website

https://urban-thinktank-hk.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Urban-Think Tank is a Zurich-headquartered architecture and urban design practice anchored to the ETH Zurich Chair of Architecture and Urban Design, delivering participatory, climate-focused design and incremental housing projects for governments, development banks, and cultural institutions across Latin America, Europe, and Africa.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architecture & Urban Design Services

NAICS

Architectural Services (54131), Commercial and Institutional Building Construction (236220), Landscape Architectural Services (541320)

akta.pro primary industry

Urban Planning & Master Planning (BPAHAKAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community Engagement & Participatory Planning (BPAHAKAO), Urban & Regional Planning (Land Use, Zoning, Master Planning) (BPAIANAD), Sustainable Cities, Urban Development & Green Infrastructure (BPADALAL), Think Tanks, Policy Research & Public Policy Institutes (BPAGAFAO), Housing Development, Construction & Rehabilitation Programs (BPAIANAB), Smart Cities & Urban Innovation Programs (Digital Planning, Civic Tech for Cities) (BPAIANAJ)

Keywords

• Architecture urban design
• Informal settlement upgrading
• Social architecture services
• Urban transformation planning
• Climate adaptive design

Headquarters

HQ city

Zurich

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Urban Design and Architecture Services: Project-based fees for urban design, architecture, and planning services commissioned by municipalities, governments, and development organizations.
2. Research and Academic Grants: Funding from academic institutions, Swiss government agencies (SECO), and international development banks (IDB) for urban research programs and transformation projects.
3. Publications and Educational Materials: Sale of books, publications, and educational materials documenting urban research and design projects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Urban-Think Tank is a private interdisciplinary architecture and urban design practice that delivers commissioned urban design, architecture, planning, and research services to municipalities, government agencies, and international development organizations. Its work centers on informal settlement upgrading, social and participatory architecture, climate-adaptive urban design, and post-industrial site transformation, anchored at the ETH Zurich Chair of Architecture and Urban Design. Core deliverables include built projects (housing prototypes, cable car transit systems, cultural facilities, mobile urban laboratories), long-running urban transformation programs (e.g., the Colombia Urban Transformation Program with SECO and IDB), academic research and teaching, publications (SLUM Lab series), and documentary films (Gran Horizonte Media).

Product overview

Urban-Think Tank (now operating as urbanthinktank_next) is a multidisciplinary architecture and urban design practice that operates across research, built projects, teaching, and publications. The firm's core offering combines academic research from the ETH Zurich Chair of Architecture and Urban Design with practical urban transformation projects worldwide. Key offerings include: the flagship urban design practice and project portfolio (Fábrica de Cultura, Empower Shack/Social Housing, Metro Cable, Vertical Gym, Torre David research), the studio mobil/think tank station mobile urban laboratory, the Open Building Prototype research initiative, and the SLUM Lab publication series. The practice also includes a documentary film arm (Gran Horizonte Media) and manages multi-year urban transformation programs in Colombia. The firm focuses on social architecture, informal settlement upgrading, climate-care design, and radical care frameworks for urban justice.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Architecture and Urban Design Services Commissioned architecture, urban design, and planning services delivered to municipalities, government agencies, and international development organizations, covering informal settlement upgrading, social architecture, and climate-adaptive urban design across Latin America, Europe, and Africa.
• Fábrica de Cultura: School of Arts and Popular Traditions Cultural facility and maker space in Barrio Abajo, Barranquilla, offering arts and crafts education in 11 disciplines (music, dance, sculpture, dress making, painting, poetry, theater, food production, digital film and audio) for 2,800 young people, regardless of social or economic background. Designed using open building principles and is being replicated in other parts of Barranquilla and Colombia.
• Empower Shack / Empower Social Housing Affordable, incremental housing prototype for informal settlements in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, South Africa, combining modular construction with community-driven land readjustment methodology and livelihoods programming in partnership with Ikhayalami.
• Metro Cable San Agustín

Quantifiable outcome

• Fábrica de Cultura serves 2,800 youth with creative arts education
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• MAK - Museum of Applied Arts ViennaflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Vienna Biennale for Change 2021 partnership. U-TT curated Climate-Care exhibition featuring studio mobil/think tank station. Project presented at MAK and multiple outdoor locations throughout Vienna.
• Vienna Business AgencyflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Co-sponsored studio mobil/think tank station for Vienna Biennale. Collaboration on urban food systems research and Vienna Climate Innovation Districts studies.
• Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Collaboration on Colombia Urban Transformation Program. IDB coordinates with SECO for Emerging and Sustainable Cities Initiative in Barranquilla and other Colombian cities. Supports urban research and implementation of sustainable city solutions.
• Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Funding and strategic partnership for Colombia Urban Transformation Program. Supports Fábrica de Cultura and other urban development projects in Colombia. Long-term collaboration with international development focus.
• ETH Zurich - Chair of Architecture and Urban DesigncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010Hubert Klumpner holds the Chair at ETH Zurich. The partnership enables academic research, design studios, and implementation of urban transformation programs. Research zones include Latin America, Balkans, and Southern Africa. The Chair operates in collaboration with ISTP, ETH Wohnforum-ETH CASE, and is regional representative of UN Habitat University Informal Urbanism Hub.
• Universidad del Norte, BarranquillacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic collaboration on Fábrica de Cultura project. Engineering and design expertise from the university supporting flexible building prototype development. Joint summer school programs including Markets in the Tropics and Avenues in the Tropics.
• Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, MedellíncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlejandro Restrepo-Montoya serves as Professor and Director of Urban Transformation Program. Partnership enables Colombia urban research and coordinates with municipality on strategic urban projects.
• Ikhayalami ('My Home')coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSouth African NGO partnership for Empower Shack informal settlement upgrading in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. Community-driven urban upgrade methodology combining housing upgrades with livelihoods programming.
• Ashden (Fair Cooling Fund)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGreen Corridors Initiative collaboration in Colombia. Supported by Fair Cooling Fund for climate adaptation and sustainable planning criteria implementation.
• Armando Silva TellezminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity Externada collaboration on Urban Imaginaries project. Academic partnership for citizen-centered urban research methodology.
• Doreen Heng Liu / Node ArchitectureminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProfessional network partner for projects in Shenzhen, China. Regional collaboration for Pearl River Delta urban initiatives.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Elemental (Alejandro Aravena): Chilean architecture practice led by Pritzker Prize winner Alejandro Aravena, specializing in incremental social housing and participatory design for low-income communities. Direct peer to U-TT due to nearly identical focus on half-house typology, community-driven upgrading, and global south housing innovation, including similar involvement in UN Habitat initiatives and ETH academic ecosystem.
• MASS Design Group: US-based nonprofit architecture firm focused on built work that addresses social and spatial inequities, with significant projects in African health facilities, schools, and housing. Direct peer to U-TT in mission alignment, social-impact project pipeline, and humanitarian architecture practice, though anchored in Boston rather than Switzerland.
• Kéré Architecture: Burkina Faso and Germany-based practice led by Pritzker Prize winner Francis Kéré, focusing on climate-responsive social architecture and community-built projects in sub-Saharan Africa. Highly comparable to U-TT in methodology (community participation, local materials, climate adaptation) and in focus on informal settlement upgrading in West Africa overlapping with U-TT's South Africa work.
• Lacaton & Vassal Architectes: Paris-based practice and 2021 Pritzker Prize winner, focused on social housing transformation, incremental additions, and respect for existing community fabric. Highly comparable methodology to U-TT's open building and incremental housing principles, with similar values around preserving community identity and avoiding displacement.

Others

• Slum Dwellers International (SDI): International network of community-led organizations working on informal settlement upgrading across 32 countries. Adjacent peer to U-TT rather than direct, as SDI is a community organizing network rather than architecture practice, but is the canonical partner/organization for the kind of incremental settlement work that U-TT's Empower Shack program addresses.
• UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme): UN agency for sustainable urbanization, of which U-TT's ETH Chair is a regional representative via UN Habitat University Informal Urbanism Hub. Not a peer in commercial terms but a key institutional relationship and ecosystem participant that shapes the informal urbanism agenda U-TT addresses.

Emerging players

• Shack/Slum Dwellers International Affiliates (e.g., Ikhayalami): South African NGO and U-TT partner for the Empower Shack program in Khayelitsha. Peer in the informal settlement upgrading space with focus on community-driven housing, though operating as an NGO with grassroots methodology rather than as an architecture firm.
• Spatial Agency (Lacaton & Vassal collaborators and European peers): European architecture practices with comparable focus on social housing, informal settlements, and participatory urban design methodology. Less direct overlap than Elemental or Lacaton & Vassal but shares U-TT's values around community-led design and incremental development approaches.
• Design that Builds / Arquitectura Expandida: Latin American practice working on informal settlement upgrading and participatory community design, with comparable methodology to U-TT's Empower Shack and Medellín programs. Emerging player focused on Latin American context that overlaps in geography and methodology.

Broad incumbents

• Studio Gang: US architecture studio known for ecologically-driven urban architecture and large-scale public projects. Comparable to U-TT in climate-care focus and design-led practice, but operates at significantly larger scale with broader commercial and institutional client base rather than informal settlement focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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• Instagraminstagram.com/urbanthinktank

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Urban-Think Tank