On the day 2 of the Capitalising on uncertainty summer school, we have the pleasure to welcome two lecturers focussing on material uncertainty: Nadja Gaudillière-Jami is assistant professor at the Centre for IT and Architecture, where she co-directs the Computation in Architecture master’s programme. She is a qualified architect and holds a PhD in Architecture from Gustave Eiffel University. A specialist of the digital in architecture, her research focuses on its environmental and cultural impacts. Blanca Gardeleguix is an architect, researcher and educator working on material reuse, circular construction and regenerative design. She is a reuse & circularity expert at …

20.05.26 - Our travel habits are changing as our attitudes toward transport shift – with a greater emphasis on comfort and the latest technology. For insights into this trend, we spoke with sociologist and EPFL professor Vincent Kaufmann. How will we be moving around over the next 50 years? Discussions about the mobility transition underway in Europe are nothing new – they were also the topic of Vincent Kaufmann’s PhD thesis in the 1990s. “European policymakers wanted to encourage the use of public transport in urban areas and get people out of the car and into the train,” says Kaufmann, …

In July 2026, the Rolex Learning Center became a place of exchange around the Master Projects in Architecture at EPFL. Bringing together the final juries and the exhibition, the event offered a moment to reflect on a year of research, design, and experimentation, while opening this work to discussion with invited critics, faculty, students, and the public. The projects revealed a wide range of positions and methods. Developed independently, they nevertheless converged around shared concerns for contemporary architecture, engaging with questions of territory and public space, housing, industrial and cultural heritage, and architecture in mountain environments. Congratulations to all the …

Le cours interroge l’avenir des villages face à l'injonction de densification vers l'intérieur, inscrite dans la Loi suisse sur l’aménagement du territoire (LAT) depuis 2013. Si ce modèle s’adapte aux grandes villes et aux agglomérations, il apparaît moins pertinent pour les territoires villageois, caractérisés par une urbanisation discontinue et un fort lien au paysage. Ces espaces, dominés par le non-bâti et par une socialité de proximité, ont renforcé leur attractivité dans les contextes de crises sanitaires et climatiques. Ils disposent de ressources importantes pour la régulation environnementale et sociale, mais présentent aussi des fragilités, notamment en matière de mobilité et …

This research-through-making project explores the use of innovative Textile Reinforced Concrete (TRC), a high-performance material in which carbon fibres are embedded in a cementitious matrix cast with low-clinker-content binders, such as LC3. By combining these sustainable binders with the high efficiency of the reinforcing material, TRC significantly reduces the ecological footprint of construction by minimizing material usage and lowering energy consumption. This technology enables the creation of exceptionally thin, highly durable, and thus sustainable structures. The project aims to further investigate the structural, architectural, environmental, and social dimensions of TRC and its applications, particularly in the context of a new …

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.