NRP 81 Session series BAUKULTUR: A EUROPEAN GENEALOGY Tuesday, 20 January 2026 (18:00 – 19:30) Venue: Winterthur, ZHAW, MD E0.17 (Tössfeldstrassse 11, 8401 Winterthur) ZOOM ID: 68258520857 This concluding session broadens the genealogical question, exploring the theme of transformation. Undoubtedly, Umbakultur is inextricably linked to the very concept of Baukultur, and can also be read by tracing back through the main strands of European urban culture. Invited speakers Paul Landauer, Paris Discussants: Paola Viganò, Pierre Caye, Andri Gerber, Caspar Schärer

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. Its 10th edition, organized in collaboration with the Institute of Architecture, will be entitled Autonomy and Abstraction and will deal two fundamental dimensions of scholarly inquiry. The two days event, open to the public, will be structured in the form of thematic sessions alternating with keynotes and round tables. Abstraction will be approached in its classical philosophical meaning, consistent with the view that understanding requires the mind to grasp the universal apart from the …

Ce projet de recherche explore l’utilisation du béton textile (Textile Reinforced Concrete – TRC), un matériau haute performance dans lequel une armature en fibre de carbone est intégrée dans une matrice cimentaire réalisée à partir de liants à faible teneur en clinker, tels que le LC3. En combinant ces liants durables avec la grande efficacité du matériau de renforcement, le TRC réduit de manière significative l’empreinte écologique de la construction en minimisant la quantité de matériau utilisée et en abaissant la consommation d’énergie. Cette technologie permet de créer des structures exceptionnellement fines, très durables et donc hautement durables au sens …

01.09.25 - If you’re looking for Yves Pedrazzini, you’ll probably find him on the streets or at a local punk-rock club. The winner of the 2024 best teacher award for the architecture section has led a wide-ranging, uncompromising career marked by real-world experience with people from all walks of life. It might be tempting to say that Yves Pedrazzini’s eclectic career lacks coherence. But look more closely and a common thread emerges – one that makes his choices seem perfectly logical, even organic. All the pieces fit together in a way that feels almost natural. Previously a senior scientist at …

As an industry that relies on extracted materials and an intense use of resources, isn’t construction unsustainable by design? The pressure is increasing for the sector to diligently address the harm caused by the built environment, begging the question of whether real sustainability in architecture and planning is possible. As institutionalized and commodified greenwashing hollows out the term, how do architects and designers position their work beyond the inadequacy of a flattening universalistic understanding of sustainability? What forms of practice allow for accountable and revolutionized construction modes? How can we critically engage with technology as an ambivalent tool in the …

‘Concrete: Cosmetic and Care’ focuses on a heavy heritage: the mass of mainly post-war structures in reinforced concrete. It is THEMA contribution to The Great Repair exhibition. The post-war building boom covered the globe with an unprecedented amount of concrete. Production of every ton of cement alone releases 600 kg of carbon dioxide making the construction industry a substantial emitter of greenhouse gases. Much work in the post-war era focuses on the preservation challenges for iconic brutalist structures. Here instead, the aim is to strategize the maintenance and repair of reinforced concrete as ubiquitous, unspectacular, and unloved and raise awareness …

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.