Organized by the Laboratory of Architecture and Sustainable Technologies (LAST) within the axis Integrated Design, Architecture and Sustainability (IDEAS) in partnership with the Architectural Association School of Architecture (AA, London), the PhD seminar “Neighborhoods in Transition II” will explore, from 28-30 April 2025, the potentials of urban slopes in the context of a post-carbon society. Architectural design plays a crucial role in finding alternatives to urban sprawl, aiming to regenerate and qualitatively densify existing urban areas near public transport hubs. More broadly, it seeks to integrate the practice of building into the transition towards a post-carbon society. In Switzerland, as …

OLIVER CLEMENS, ANNA HEILGEMEIR WiLMa 19 – Communal Living in collective Ownership In 2014-2015, we converted a seven-storey GDR state security office building in Berlin into a collective housing project. The extremely low-budget refurbishment created diverse rental apartments (40–300 m²) for 60 people, countering rising rents and promoting inclusivity. Like 200 other German projects, Wilma19 is secured through the Mietshäuser Syndikat, a solidarity-based ownership network ensuring long-term affordability and community self-management. Oliver Clemens is a freelance architect and, together with Sabine Horlitz, founder and partner of the architectural firm Studio CHplus. Committed to the goals of social urban and real …

Meeting with the Archives of Modern Construction Wednesday 30 April 2025 As part of the Sun Shines on Architecture exhibition, open from 21 March to 21 June 2025, Archizoom invites you to spend a day exploring the archives and the buildings created by Swiss solar architects Patrick Chiché, Dimitri Demetriades and Dimitri Papadaniel. Three events will take place during the day: Introduction to the archives and work of the solar architects 12.15pm - 1.30pm - Meet at Archizoom, free admission, no registration required Discovery of the archives with Dr Salvatore Aprea, director of Acm, and discussion with Patrick Chiché, Dimitri …

AVIOLAT CHAPERON ESCOBAR Conversion of a building at chemin Guillaume Ritter in Fribourg At the bend of a tree-lined alley, the Ritter House emerges—white, slender, and seemingly roofless. Its tall vertical windows and protruding cornices create striking overlaps, while its double enfilade layout extends and revitalizes the existing structure. Cloaked in a timeless white veil, it becomes an open-ended symbol, inviting the most poetic associations of thought. Sébastien Chaperon is a Swiss architect who graduated from HES Fribourg in 2005. He has led projects at 0815 Architekten in Freiburg and Dreier Frenzel in Lausanne, including the Ecoquartier Jonction in Geneva. …

Les Rencontres de l'EDAR is the annual meeting of the Doctoral program in Architecture and Sciences of the City, aimed at gathering the entire EDAR community. The 9th edition, organized in collaboration with the Institute of Architecture, is entitled Original Knowledge and focuses on the ways in which EDAR research meets the criterion of producing original scientific knowledge. The primary function of scientific research within academic institution is to systematically increase current knowledge. Originality is an essential aptitude of the good scholar, who is able to identify new subjects of investigation, develop innovative forms of inquiry, interweave different disciplines, and …

11.03.25 - EPFL’s School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC) has introduced a new master’s program in urban systems that will start this fall. The goal is to train experts who are capable of implementing sustainability-oriented approaches for urban planning and development. By rethinking their approach to managing and developing urban areas, city officials can play a role in responding to modern-day challenges such as climate change, the depletion of natural resources and the impact of manufacturing and other anthropogenic activities on the environment and human health. The goal of ENAC’s new master’s program in urban systems is to …

30.12.24 - The passing of David Jolly, architect and Professor at the Universidad EAD PUCV in Valparaíso, Chile, marks an immense loss. His stance, his remarkable body of work, and his research in the Ciudad Abierta in Chile deeply inspired students of EPFL. David Jolly: The intellectual and teaching legacy of the Open City movement The passing of David Jolly, architect and Professor at the Universidad EAD PUCV in Valparaíso, Chile, marks an immense loss. As the last guardian of the legacy of the Open City movement, his ethical and intellectual stance, his remarkable body of work, and his research …

06.12.24 - How can we ensure a low-carbon economy by 2050? What kind of sustainable housing can be imagined? The winners of the 2024 Durabilis prize awarded by EPFL and UNIL suggest ways forward, while raising awareness of potential risks. The Durabilis Award annually recognizes student work with a strong sustainability component, achieving a grade above 5 out of 6. This year, five winners from EPFL and the University of Lausanne (UNIL) received a prize (CHF 1,000 for master's theses, 500 for the bachelor's thesis) for their exceptional projects, selected from 38 submissions. The ceremony took place on Thursday, November …

Water design is of major importance today. The risks associated with water and climate change are a cause of global concern. The number of projects dealing with water-related issues is virtually endless, so pervasive that they play the role of connectors among coalitions of different players, disciplines, performances and ways of thinking. Water Designs, the title of the exhibition, considers not only water as a topic, but the project that water itself designs, according to its rationalities, logics and behaviours. The water project is the one that shapes our territories and our living space over the longue durée. Water is …

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.