Who develops, finances, and commissions architecture—and in whose interest? This lecture series examines the often-invisible forces that shape architectural production—the clients who commission, the contractors who build, and the capital flows that determine what gets realized. While architects are trained to focus on design, the political economy of construction is largely absent from architectural education—sustaining a disciplinary insularity that obscures architecture's deep entanglement with capital, labor, and power. Yet building is fundamentally contingent: dependent on forces beyond the designer's reach, shaped by actors whose decisions constrain and enable architecture far more than design intentions. The series invites scholars and practitioners …

Collective Repair presents examples of pedagogical and curatorial work produced from within the framework of the Critical Broadcasting Lab at MIT and contenting with topics of repair and collectivity. These include: the Collective Architecture Studio series aimed at actively reconfiguring the way that architectural authorship flows, is understood, and is addressed in the context of academia, while simultaneously considering ways that collective ownership has historically, and might yet shape architectural outcomes. Ana Miljački is a historian, critic, curator and Professor of Architecture at MIT, where she directs the SMArchS program. In 2018, Miljački launched MIT’s Critical Broadcasting Lab (CBL), engaged …

Reading La ville et son sol, now translated into French in its entirety for the first time, gives a full picture of the trajectory of progressive urban planning, bringing together the contrasting urban visions of the great architects of the last century. From a 21st-century perspective, Bernoulli's thinking appears to be a particularly fruitful contribution to rethinking soil as a renewable resource and reclaiming its nature as a common good. Introduction by Florian Hertweck Postface by Elena Cogato Lanza and Mireille Senn Florian Hertweck is an architect and head of the master’s programme in Architecture at the University of Luxembourg. …

11.02.26 - À l’occasion de la quatrième édition du Prix Master Architecture décerné par la SIA. Deux projets issus de la Section d’architecture de l’EPFL ont reçu une Mention, distinguant la qualité et l’engagement des travaux de diplôme développés au sein de l’école. Parmi les travaux distingués figure le projet de Léa Guillotin, Re-fabriquer Sévelin : l’image de l’industrie au centre-ville. Inscrit dans le quartier lausannois de Sévelin, aujourd’hui largement tertiarisé, le projet interroge la place de l’industrie au cœur de la ville contemporaine face aux défis écologiques et logistiques actuels. S’appuyant sur le dernier ensemble bâti des années 1930, …

28.11.25 - Le Studio TEXAS de l'EPFL Architecture a remporté le Prix Swiss Arc 2025 dans la catégorie Next Generation. Félicitations aux étudiant·es et à l'équipe enseignante impliqués pour leur travail exceptionnel ! Hétérotopies En prenant pour point de départ le concept d’hétérotopie développé par Michel Foucault, les étudiants ont imaginé la transformation d’une barre d’habitations construite en 1955 à Sarcelles, en périphérie de Paris. Adoptant un regard attentif et engagé en faveur de la préservation de ce patrimoine moderne, ils ont exploré des manières d’étendre les qualités spatiales et matérielles de ces logements. Chaque groupe a développé un projet …

21.10.25 - Dans le cadre de la thèse qu’il réalise actuellement en architecture à l’EPFL, Clément Cattin analyse comment adapter les lieux en pente aux défis de la ville durable. Il en résume les enjeux dans une chronique parue dans trois quotidiens romands. Les opérations de densification sont très présentes dans les villes suisses, mais leur attractivité reste faible au sein de la population. Les refus politiques sont de plus en plus fréquents. Comment continuer à répondre aux besoins de logements tout en assurant une qualité de vie en ville? Dans ma recherche doctorale en architecture et science de la …

14.10.25 - Une étude de l'EPFL montre que la lumière rouge, tout comme la lumière bleue, provoque un éblouissement plus important que la lumière blanche. Ceci remet en question une fonction de sensibilité centenaire de référence qui décrit la façon dont l'œil humain réagit aux différentes longueurs d'onde de la lumière, avec des implications sur les normes, la recherche et le confort visuel à l'intérieur des bâtiments. L'éblouissement causé par la lumière du soleil peut être une source majeure d'inconfort pour les occupantes et occupants d'un bâtiment. En particulier lorsque les fenêtres ne sont pas assez ombragées. Les nouvelles technologies …

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 documentary on the 2025 Master's projects at EPFL Architecture offers a glimpse into the topics addressed and investigated by master’s students: resources and craftsmanship, issues related to urban and territorial scales, social housing and individual housing, and interventions in existing buildings, including transformation, rehabilitation and renovation, are among the topics covered during the PDM. The PDM year at EPFL offers a rare freedom: the choice of one's own subjects and collaborations. It is a crucial moment when everyone takes a stand, not only in their studies but also in relation to the role of the architect. The video does …

Proving that reused concrete components are reusable again! At the heart of Lausanne’s museum centre last month, I was privileged to showcase new structural and spatial possibilities using the same structural elements used in previous demonstrators of Maxence Grangeot's PhD thesis. These prefabricated wall elements made from concrete rubble, originally fabricated in collaboration with Prelco, were disassembled from the tower configuration, and combined again with cut concrete slabs, into a pavilion whose structural layout and connections were validated by NFIC, and installation carried out in collaboration with Marti. This public pavilion has been exhibited as part of Tracés/espazium first “Baukultur …

Projets de Master 2025 Exhibition and reviews The 2025 Master Projects Exhibition showcases the work of EPFL architecture students as they confront the material, social, and territorial challenges of today’s world. Spread across three distinct areas, the exhibition showcases a diverse range of approaches: some projects delve into the use of local resources and traditional craftsmanship, working with materials such as wood or earth, or exploring self-building techniques. Others operate at larger scales, reimagining urban and territorial dynamics in light of environmental and societal shifts. A third group focuses on housing, both collective and individual, and on interventions within existing …

Les étudiant.es en Master, Vincent Digneaux, Solène Guisan et Vincent Kastl ont gagné le premier prix du concours étudiant d’architecture Sustainable is beautiful avec leur projet d’une passerelle modulable sur la rivière Chamberonne, à la fois lieu de passage et de rencontre. Une première expérience au plus proche de la réalité de la profession. Le Laboratoire d’architecture et technologies durables (LAST) propose depuis quelques années aux étudiantes et étudiants de la Faculté de l’environnement naturel, architectural et construit (ENAC) des concours d’idées baptisés Sustainable is beautiful, en partenariat avec des institutions privées ou publiques engagées dans des initiatives locales liées à la transition.

PRIX RIBA CHARLES JENCKS AWARD 2023

Le bureau Dogma, fondé en 2002 par Pier Vittorio Aureli, professeur associé à la section d’Architecture de l’EPFL (ENAC), et Martino Tattara, a été récompensé par l’illustre prix Charles Jencks 2023 du Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

Créé en 2003 pour récompenser une personne (ou un bureau) ayant récemment apporté une contribution majeure à la fois à la théorie et à la pratique de l'architecture, ce prix prestigieux a distingué au fil des ans des architectes tels que Peter Eisenman, Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas ou Jacques Herzog et Pierre de Meuron.

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.