Who develops, finances, and commissions architecture—and in whose interest? This lecture series examines the often-invisible forces that shape architectural production—the clients who commission, the contractors who build, and the capital flows that determine what gets realized. While architects are trained to focus on design, the political economy of construction is largely absent from architectural education—sustaining a disciplinary insularity that obscures architecture's deep entanglement with capital, labor, and power. Yet building is fundamentally contingent: dependent on forces beyond the designer's reach, shaped by actors whose decisions constrain and enable architecture far more than design intentions. The series invites scholars and practitioners …

Collective Repair presents examples of pedagogical and curatorial work produced from within the framework of the Critical Broadcasting Lab at MIT and contenting with topics of repair and collectivity. These include: the Collective Architecture Studio series aimed at actively reconfiguring the way that architectural authorship flows, is understood, and is addressed in the context of academia, while simultaneously considering ways that collective ownership has historically, and might yet shape architectural outcomes. Ana Miljački is a historian, critic, curator and Professor of Architecture at MIT, where she directs the SMArchS program. In 2018, Miljački launched MIT’s Critical Broadcasting Lab (CBL), engaged …

DES CÈDRES À DORIGNY, BÂTIR L’ÉCOLE D’ARCHITECTURE 04.03-29.09.2026 Opening! Tuesday 3 March 6.30pm — School Lecture by l’Atelier Scheidegger Keller Followed by an introduction of the exhibition 7.30pm — Exhibition doors open and aperitif Focusing on architectural projects, both built and unrealised, kept in the archives of modern construction, the exhibition Des Cèdres à Dorigny tells the story of the birth and evolution of the Lausanne School of Architecture. From its beginnings within the EPUL to its integration into the EPFL campus, this historical journey puts into perspective the conditions of architectural education, its relationship with engineering, and the role …

11.02.26 - On the occasion of the fourth edition of the Master Prize in Architecture, awarded by the Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects (SIA), two projects from EPFL Architecture received an Honourable Mention, recognising the quality and commitment reflected in these diploma projects. Among the awarded works is the project by Léa Guillotin, Re-fabricating Sévelin: The Image of Industry in the City Centre. Located in Lausanne’s Sévelin district—today largely shaped by the service sector—the project questions the role of industry in the contemporary city in light of current ecological and logistical challenges. Building on the last remaining industrial complex …

14.10.25 - An EPFL study shows red light, like blue, causes stronger glare than white, challenging the century-old and globally used function that describes how the human eye responds to different light wavelengths. The findings have implications for standards and research, as well as for the comfort of building occupants. Glare from sunlight can be a major source of discomfort for building occupants, especially when the windows have inadequate shadings. New smart glazing technology aims to provide protection from overheating in summer and from glare by changing the tint level to reduce the amount of solar radiation that passes through. …

During a one-week Summer Workshop at Lincoln’s Inn Fields in Central London, students will explore drawing as a fundamental tool in architecture and engineering, engaging with the site as both a built environment and a historically transformed place. Developed in collaboration with Drawing Matter, London, the workshop integrates hands-on drawing with research into the Drawing Matter Collection, a unique archive of architectural drawings. Students will construct survey drawings—understood as instruments for potentially transforming existing conditions—while investigating drawing as a corporeal practice of measuring, analyzing, and questioning spatial, tectonic, urban, and material articulation, as well as the notion of place. Drawing …

The Summer Workshop explored the structural, architectonic, environmental, and social dimensions of TRC and its application, particularly in the context of school programs in the Global South, where it serves as a socially and environmentally sustainable “lightweight” material. Building upon the TRC Prototype Pavilion initiated in 2019 at EPFL Fribourg and previous research by Brazilian architect Lelé on Argamassa Armada (ferrocement), the summer workshop aimed to craft full-scale (1:1) Textile Reinforced Concrete (TRC) elements for a new secondary school in Somaliland, Africa, a project led by Urko Sanchez Architects, based in Kenya. Additionally, we aim to facilitate knowledge exchange between …

This documentary on the 2025 Master's projects at EPFL Architecture offers a glimpse into the topics addressed and investigated by master’s students: resources and craftsmanship, issues related to urban and territorial scales, social housing and individual housing, and interventions in existing buildings, including transformation, rehabilitation and renovation, are among the topics covered during the PDM. The PDM year at EPFL offers a rare freedom: the choice of one's own subjects and collaborations. It is a crucial moment when everyone takes a stand, not only in their studies but also in relation to the role of the architect. The video does …

Projets de Master 2025 Exhibition and reviews The 2025 Master Projects Exhibition showcases the work of EPFL architecture students as they confront the material, social, and territorial challenges of today’s world. Spread across three distinct areas, the exhibition showcases a diverse range of approaches: some projects delve into the use of local resources and traditional craftsmanship, working with materials such as wood or earth, or exploring self-building techniques. Others operate at larger scales, reimagining urban and territorial dynamics in light of environmental and societal shifts. A third group focuses on housing, both collective and individual, and on interventions within existing …

EPFL architecture graduates, Vincent Digneaux, Solène Guisan and Vincent Kastl, were crowned winners of the Sustainable is Beautiful student architecture prize for their modular footbridge over the Chamberonne river. Designing the structure, which serves as both a crossing and a meeting place, gave them their first taste of life as an architect. Several years ago, the Laboratory of Architecture and Sustainable Technologies (LAST) at EPFL’s School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC) launched Sustainable is Beautiful, a competition run in partnership with public and private organizations involved in green-transition projects, to help equip budding architects for their future role.

WINNER OF THE 2023 RIBA CHARLES JENCKS AWARD

The Dogma practice, founded in 2002 by Pier Vittorio Aureli, associate professor at the EPFL Architecture Department (ENAC), and Martino Tattara, has been awarded the prestigious Charles Jencks 2023 Prize by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

Created in 2003 to reward an individual (or office) who has recently made a major contribution to both the theory and practice of architecture, this prestigious prize has distinguished architects such as Peter Eisenman, Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron over the years.

Housing is a major contributor to Switzerland's carbon footprint and energy consumption, but it is also a basic need. Research on climate change mitigation strategies has so far paid insufficient attention to households' preferences and their contribution to housing sustainability. Depicting residential preferences requires an understanding of the multilevel, context-specific, and interrelated determinants of the match between households and dwellings, which are made explicit in the residential mobility process.