DO ROBOTS DREAM OF CONSTRUCTION SITES? 09.09-05.12.2026 Tuesday 8 September 2026 6.15pm – Introduction by Cyril Veillon 6.30pm – Discussion between Stefana Parascho and Aude Billard, moderated by Pier Vittorio Aureli 7.30pm – Opening doors and aperitive To mark the opening of the exhibition Do Robots Dream of Construction Sites?, organised in collaboration with prof. Stefana Parascho, Director of the CRCL – Lab for Creative Computation at EPFL, we are delighted to welcome prof. Aude Billard, a physicist and pioneer in the fields of machine learning and human-robot interaction. She heads the LASA laboratory, the Laboratory for Algorithms and Learning …

Kirstin Hagelskjaer Petersen - Emergent Construction in Insect and Robotic Swarms EPFL is pleased to welcome Kirstin Hagelskjaer Petersen (Cornell University) for a keynote lecture on collective robotics and bio-inspired swarm systems. This lecture is free and open to all. Kirstin H. Petersen is Associate Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Cornell University, where she is the Aref and Manon Lahham Faculty Fellow and a Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability Faculty Fellow. She leads the Collective Embodied Intelligence Lab, which designs and coordinates robot collectives capable of behaviors beyond the reach of any individual, alongside studies …

Anne Katrin Burghartz EPFL is pleased to welcome Anne Katrin Burghartz (schlaich bergermann partner, Berlin) for a keynote lecture on her work at the intersection of art and structure. This talk is free and open to all. Anne K. Burghartz has been a structural engineer and project manager at the Berlin office of schlaich bergermann partner since 2016. She studied civil engineering at TU Berlin with a focus on structural engineering. At sbp she has worked on bridges, buildings, pedestrian bridges, art installations, and lightweight and membrane structures, and from 2023 to 2025 she helped develop the concap floor system, …

11.08.26 - What if robots were increasingly in need of us? Archizoom and the CRCL laboratory at EPFL propose an exhibition to invite visitors to rethink the automation of construction sites, exploring robotic arms, recycled timber and the confidence to co-create with increasingly intelligent machines. Despite decades of technological promises, construction remains one of the least automated sectors — and one where the physical demands of the work remain the most intense. In light of this, the CRCL – Lab for Creative Computation, led by Professor Stefana Parascho, is exploring a different approach. Rather than opposing robots and workers, this …

30.07.26 - Cities and communities have often developed around waterways. Today, they play a vital role in adapting to climate change and strengthening social bonds. Rivers are a key resource for food, directly through fishing or indirectly for irrigating crops. In the 19th century, when industrialization began, they became essential to run factories and revolutionize the economy, thus shaping the urban landscape. For that reason, humans have always established their settlements near rivers and have diverted their natural course to adapt to their needs. However, as cities keep growing, rivers reclaim the space that they occupied. “Rivers are very complex …

In May 2026, the SG Building at EPFL hosted the End of the Year Show, bringing together the work developed across the Architecture's studios. Through models, drawings, research, installations, and debate, the exhibition offered a collective view of the diverse approaches that shape architectural education at EPFL. Rooted in a project-based approach that connects design with technical, social, and critical questions, the exhibited work explored contemporary ways of living, building, and imagining collective space. While each studio pursued its own methods and themes, together they reflected the breadth of investigations carried out throughout the academic year. 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 …

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.