Join us for this exciting lecture at F'AR, organized by two laboratories from EPFL Architecture: Building for Time examines architecture not as a finished object, but as a material process unfolding across multiple lifespans. Drawing from ancient practices of reuse, cannibalization, and ritualized demolition, Brandon Clifford explores how past cultures anticipated the afterlives of their buildings—and what those strategies can teach us about designing structures that expect transformation, disassembly, and reuse. The lecture proposes future architectures that are conceived with their second (and third) lives already embedded in their form, material logic, and construction. Brandon Clifford mines ancient construction techniques …

EPFL Architecture is pleased to invite you to visit the exhibition of the Master students' work until July 31 at the Rolex Learning Center. The exhibition is divided into three distinct areas: the first brings together projects focused on resources and craftsmanship, such as wood, earth, and self-construction; the second features projects exploring urban and territorial scales; and the third presents work on social or individual housing, as well as interventions in existing buildings, including transformation, rehabilitation, and renovation. The final reviews for the 2026 master's projects will take place from July 8 to 15 at the Rolex Learning Center …

11.06.26 - Two master's projects completed within the Laboratory of Architecture and Sustainable Technologies (LAST) are among the winners of the 2026 FEB Distinction awarded by the Groupe spécialisé pour la conservation des ouvrages (GCO) of the Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects (SIA). The master's project "Racines urbaines", developed by Lucile Charamel, received an award, while Zélie Cortès' project, entitled "Canopé sociale", received an honorable mention. This distinction annually recognizes academic projects that address, in an exemplary manner, issues related to the management, adaptation, and conservation of existing buildings. Since its foundation in 1994, the GCO has provided an …

12.05.26 - Portrait of Cammy Brothers, new Professor of History of Architecture. An internationally recognized historian of art and architecture, her work has significantly reshaped the understanding of the Italian Renaissance and the exchanges between Europe and the Islamic world. She joins EPFL Architecture and will develop the CHAART – Critical Histories of Architecture and Art. We are pleased to welcome Professor Cammy Brothers to EPFL Architecture. Previously Professor at Northeastern University in Boston, she has been appointed Full Professor of History of Architecture in the Institute of Architecture and the City, part of the ENAC Faculty. At EPFL, she …

30.04.26 - Aurélie Terrier is among the winners of the Swiss National Science Foundation’s (SNSF) 2026 Scientific Image Competition. An architect and archaeologist at EPFL's Arts of Science Laboratory (LAPIS), she captured researchers conducting an impressive measurement session that combines modern and traditional tools. This is a picture of someone taking a picture, although we can’t see the object being photographed. Two colleagues, safely harnessed, seem to be enjoying themselves as they stand on scaffolding over 15 meters off the ground and skillfully manipulate a long extension pole fitted with a camera. They’re exploring the inaccessible heights inside the Temple …

29.04.26 - Portrait of Aziza Chaouni, our new Tenure-Track Assistant Professor. An American-Moroccan architect and civil engineer committed to issues of sustainability and conservation, she is joining EPFL Architecture and will head the SONO Lab (South–North Laboratory for Sustainable Construction and Conservation) in Fribourg. Previously Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, Canada, she has been appointed Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of Architecture and Sustainable Construction in the Inwstitute of Architecture and the City, part of the ENAC Faculty. At EPFL, she will lead the SONO Lab (South–North Lab for Sustainable Construction and Conservation) at the Smart Living Lab in Fribourg. …

During a one-week Summer Workshop at Lincoln’s Inn Fields in Central London, students will explore drawing as a fundamental tool in architecture and engineering, engaging with the site as both a built environment and a historically transformed place. Developed in collaboration with Drawing Matter, London, the workshop integrates hands-on drawing with research into the Drawing Matter Collection, a unique archive of architectural drawings. Students will construct survey drawings—understood as instruments for potentially transforming existing conditions—while investigating drawing as a corporeal practice of measuring, analyzing, and questioning spatial, tectonic, urban, and material articulation, as well as the notion of place. Drawing …

This semester’s exhibition brings together work developed across the architecture design studios at EPFL. The projects reflect a wide range of questions, methods, and positions explored throughout the term. The images document the exhibition as it unfolded, showcasing student work through models, drawings, photographs, and digital media. They capture both the variety of approaches across studios and the shared moment of presentation and exchange. The exhibition was made possible by the commitment of the students and teaching teams. Their engagement and openness to discussion continue to shape the culture of architectural education at EPFL. ↗︎ Presentations of the design studio …

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.