Engineering meets art at the Technical Workshops Platform
From left to right: The Circa Diem 2.0 and Spiral Globe installations © EPFL PL-MTI (A. Santa Cruz)/Manuel Leitos.jpg
The School of Engineering’s Technical Workshops Platform has recently showcased its technical expertise and versatility through two installations, merging engineering precision with creative artistry.
Circa Diem 2.0: Exploring light and urban life
The Institute of Mechanical Engineering (ATME), led by Maxime Raton, worked alongside School of Architecture, Civil, and Environmental Engineering professor Marilyne Andersen to create Circa Diem 2.0: a “multi-sensorial immersion that reflects on the relationships between urban lifestyles and light hygiene through a day in the life – or, rather, a day in the light”. Set to be part of the Soleil·s exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Design and Applied Arts (mudac) in Lausanne (March 21 – September 21, 2025), the installation invites visitors to explore a maze of monoliths evoking an oppressive urban environment.
At four key moments, images are generated by lenses formed by novel light-shaping technology based on refraction principles. The team worked with Florian Isvoranu of the Geometric Computing Laboratory to prepare the lens fabrication. The ATME's contribution involved using advanced CAM (computer-aided manufacturing) software to generate and optimize the trajectories of their diamond-coated tools, and a CNC (computer numerical control) 5-axis milling machine to precisely carve Plexiglass blocks into the freeform lenses. These lenses play with light to evoke the filtering role of the built environment in our access to daylight. This blend of technology and artistry highlights the team’s precision and craftsmanship.
Spiral Globe: A 3D take on Escher’s art
The Additive Manufacturing Workshop (AFA), led by Manuel Leitos, applied its 3D printing expertise to the installation M.C. Escher’s World at the Shapes exhibition, on display at EPFL Pavilions until March 9th. The project Spiral Globe, led by Marc Troyanov in the School of Basic Sciences, consists of a suspended 3D-printed sphere made of intertwined spirals.
AFA used their 3D printing knowledge to bring this dynamic structure to life, creating a fluid pattern of light and shadow that draws the viewer’s eye along the intertwined paths, and that offers a tactile experience of Escher’s visual perspective. This installation demonstrates the workshop’s ability to produce rapid prototyping with various 3D printing techniques such as selective laser sintering (SLS), which uses a laser to fuse layers of polyamide powder.
Serving EPFL’s scientific community
These two installations are great examples of how the Technical Workshops Platform supports the EPFL community with their engineering and manufacturing skills. The workshop teams are always eager to use their technical expertise to realize the projects of EPFL researchers, students and artists.