In 1947 Hoesli moved to Paris, France to join architect Fernand Léger's team and later was accepted by Le Corbusier as an assistant.
His design problems, which "were so formulated that the student had to solve tasks within a given framework of requirements and achieve precise results",[1] were arranged by types.
The types of problems were created in order to instruct the students in a specific skill through their own self-discovery with trial and error.
Hoesli relates this process to the Socratic method, in which students are constantly faced with important questions and debates.
Also at the time Hoesli began teaching at the ETH, the design process revolved around different building types.
"Transparency," Hoesli wrote, "frees us, because we allow it, to see buildings and structures in connections and independent of the differences between 'historical' and 'modern'.
"[3] He also articulated that transparency as referenced with the modern tradition became an important tool for instruction in the schools of architecture throughout the world.
He felt the structure of the ETH curriculum at the time was too dependent on chance and the fleeting feelings of a fine art mentality rather than a practical design process.
"[2] He saw the three main protagonists as Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, and Mies van der Rohe.
He also felt that the Cubist and De Stijl painters had similar perceptions of the continuity of space and drew inspiration from them.
He deals with it, makes his own experiences, and on the basis of a review of the theme in the lecture and discussion, it is possible for him, at the same time, to understand what he has experienced.
"[6] The students for this project started with a vague concept and explored avenues through which to improve their ideas as each step progressed.
"[7] The point of this exercise was to separate function from design; a surface or a defining of space was not necessarily a floor or a ceiling or a wall- those titles are added by people.
This exercise, similar to the way many sculpture classes are taught, required that the finished product be equally viable from all sides.
They then faced the task of refining their materials to match their ideas or vice versa, another key concept Hoesli aimed for.
They analyzed both form and function of every part of the existing building, strengthening skills in drawing as well as proportion and geometry.
The third step was actual work on the project, including material decision-making and discussions on how to integrate the new addition into the old structure both aesthetically and physically.
This assignment also reinforced Hoesli's idea of working in steps and allowing revising to take a role in the creative process.
They were to create a set of buildings- a clubhouse, an airplane hangar, and a workshop that worked together as a group without necessarily touching.
The intent of this exercise was to teach yet more process, involving organization, site evaluation, architectural themes, construction and form, as well as practical presentation skills.
At this point, Hoesli realized he'd rather spend time working with students in the higher level classes who had already decided on their goals as architects.
He, along with Paul Hofer and Adolph Max Vogt, founded the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture within the ETH and pronounced himself director.
In this step, students worked in clay to create massing models in order to understand the various interactions within volumetric shapes.
The students learned about a typical layout in a Venetian town, including even the piazza with the church, and altered their designs accordingly.
Hoesli used as a basis for this step the common observation that it seems Le Corbusier's Unite is a volumetric explanation for the space in the Uffizi.
They remember him as an extremely influential figure in the shaping of the ETH architecture school as well as in their personal lives and thought patterns.