The public lecture series Mud on the Floor looks at methods for studying construction sites. Although construction is required for architecture and cities to be built, it can be notably absent from scholarship. There are a few institutional reasons for this (architectural history developing as a subset of art history, for example) but also structural reasons for it: as ephemeral, chaotic, and literally dirt-y sites, construction can challenge our neat scholarly frames and methods. The presentations will be from architects, historians, and anthropologists. The series encourages that we as scholars spend more time in the field or in the archives …

Since 1980, Switzerland has required efficient land use. However, even today, there is still a deficit in its implementation. In Swiss spatial planning, the law is not sufficiently applied. This led to the SNF-Agora-funded science communication project "Proximity is the future: every contribution counts!" the 10-Minute-Neighborhoods concept presented in this exhibition aims to raise awareness of this issue and stimulate discussion about the required sustainable transformation of our urban areas. It shows how, using the example of the 10-Minute-Neighborhoods, which significantly reduce land and resource consumption, effective implementation of the law can be achieved. Interaction between urban researchers, the construction …

Walk & Round Table Take a fresh look at Lausanne West on the occasion of the Voisinage-de-10-minutes exhibition at EPFL. During a guided walk, you will discover if and how your municipality is already implementing the principles of 10-minute neighbourhoods and what potential can still be exploited. The walk takes place on Monday 25 November at 4 p.m. in Renens, Place de la Gare, south side, in front of the entrance to the old station building. The walk will be followed by a round-table discussion during which experts and local players will highlight the opportunities and challenges of this innovative …

PLAN COMÙN Architecture of Commons. La 'Maison Commune’ Maison Commune is a self-commissioned project, a built manifesto and an open process with its inhabitants. A small housing project that defines and highlights a sequence of shared spaces and the joy of everyday life at all levels. Founded in 2012, Plan Común provides strategies to maximize and reinforce public and collective space -understood as a key aspect of architecture, regardless of its scale or program- by means of simple architecture tools, through a critical discourse, research, design and building. They are convinced that radical, basic -even silent- forms are more likely …

Date: 27 November 2024 Time: 18:00 - 19:30 Introductions by Prof. Katrin Beyer (ENAC Dean) and Prof. Pier Vittorio Aureli (Director of the Institute of Architecture and the City). Lecture by Prof. Bernard Cache. Conclusion by Prof. Kathryn Hess (EPFL Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Outreach). Followed by an Apero. Place: EPFL, CO2 Live broadcast: link Title: Quelles PERSPECTIVES pour l’ENSEIGNEMENT de la GÉOMÉTRIE en ARCHITECTURE à l’EPFL ? De quoi Monge est-il la résurgence ? Géométrie Projective de Desargues à Monge. Desargues - Pascal - Bosse - La Hire - Newton Abstract Sur la figure VI,16 de …

29.10.24 - EPFL PhD student Maxence Grangeot questions current practices aimed at reducing concrete's carbon footprint in this column published in three daily newspapers in French-speaking Switzerland. Concrete is a source of controversy and various research, since it is the second-most widely used substance on the planet after water. Much of concrete’s environmental impact comes from cement, its key ingredient whose production accounts for around 8% of world CO2 emissions. Gravel is another important ingredient of concrete, produced by heavily extractive processes and that often results from rock crushing. A valuable “liquid stone,” concrete is used extensively in our walls, …

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.