Date: 05 May 2026 Time: 17:30 - 19:30 Introduction by Dean Katrin Beyer and IA director Pier Vittorio Aureli. Lecture by Prof. Marco Bakker. Followed by an apero. Place: EPFL, SG 1138 Live stream: link Title: A World Made of Traces, ANEKDOTA! Abstract: MANSLAB, The Spatial Workshop: In our view, architecture is a craft in which creativity and relentless discipline lead to innovation. Alongside a 'plurality of time', we are interested in the 'plurality of space'. Rather than transparency, it is the arrangement of different worlds face-to-face or side-by-side that creates this impression of density and richness in relationships. To …

The Spectacle of Science. A domestic artifice by Robert-Houdin The watchmaker and renowned magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin retired in the early 1850s to a priory in Saint-Gervais-la-Forêt, near Blois. This residence, equipped with a centralized, electric time-keeping system, reflects a distinctive feature of 19th-century bourgeois homes. Conceived as an internal controlled world, the house also serves as a public showcase for the application of scientific and technological advancements. This case prompts us to examine the epistemological models—ranging from the tradition of empirical knowledge to practices of illusory simulation—that characterize the modern era. This research is part of an ongoing SNF …

JOUD BEAUDOIN, LORRAINE BEAUDOIN Maison de quartier des Plaines du loup Located in the Parc du loup, on the edge of a newly built neighborhood, the community center is designed according to the principle of “houses within a house”: the various programmatic units are distributed across four distinct volumes, fragmenting the building and giving it a human scale and porosity to its environment. Between them lies a fluid interstitial space that lends itself to encounters and exchanges, thanks to a double-height space that connects the two levels. This spatial constellation offers a wide variety of possible uses, while the construction …

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 …

Visit of the Smart Living Lab construction site IDEAS Lunch Sergi Aguacil Moreno will lead a guided tour of the Smart Living Lab construction site—an interdisciplinary research center jointly run by EPFL, HEIA-FR, and the University of Fribourg, located at the blueFACTORY site in Fribourg and dedicated to the future of living. Conceived as a multidisciplinary hub and a catalyst for innovation, the building is designed as a “living laboratory” addressing key challenges in sustainability, energy efficiency, and occupant well-being. The axis Integrated Design, Architecture and Sustainability (IDEAS) is a joint initiative of both the Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Integrated Performance …

Directeurs de thèse : Prof. P. V. Aureli, Prof. C. van Gerrewey Programme doctoral en Architecture et sciences de la ville Thèse n° 11699 Pour participer à la soutenance publique, merci de contacter directement l’intervenant

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. …

19.03.26 - Within the framework of the ADHER studio, dedicated to the design of a future Student Center on EPFL’s historic campus, the Archives de la construction moderne were mobilized as an active design tool. During the month of March, the mobilisation of the Archives de la construction moderne (ACM) at EPFL, within the framework of the ADHER studio, takes place within a broader reflection on the role of architectural archives in contemporary design processes. This initiative is part of the Spring 2026 semester, marked by a reflection on a future Student Center and bringing together several studios – ADHER, …

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 …

The Summer Workshop explored the structural, architectonic, environmental, and social dimensions of TRC and its application, particularly in the context of school programs in the Global South, where it serves as a socially and environmentally sustainable “lightweight” material. Building upon the TRC Prototype Pavilion initiated in 2019 at EPFL Fribourg and previous research by Brazilian architect Lelé on Argamassa Armada (ferrocement), the summer workshop aimed to craft full-scale (1:1) Textile Reinforced Concrete (TRC) elements for a new secondary school in Somaliland, Africa, a project led by Urko Sanchez Architects, based in Kenya. Additionally, we aim to facilitate knowledge exchange between …

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.