Exhibition of the architectural design studios of the EPFL
© 2017 EPFL / LAST / Olivier Wavre
From June 2 to 3, 2017, the architectural design studios of the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) opened their doors to the public. Entitled "Ubiquitous Exhibition", this event was conceived as a simultaneous exhibition of each design studio work during the past academic year. In this context, the studio of Prof. Emmanuel Rey presented the work done at different scales on the specific theme of the creation of new peri-urban neighborhoods.
The exhibition not only allowed to discover the students' work but also to understand the centers of interest of each studio, as well as their different didactical and methodological approaches. Prof. Emmanuel Rey’s studio, entitled "LIVING LANDSCAPE", this year explored the issues related to the creation of new peri-urban neighborhoods close to public transport. The approach especially focused on conceiving - from urban design to construction detail - a dense and mix-use pole.
The chosen site for this exercise constituted a particularly suitable field of investigation for this goal. It is in fact a part of the territory situated in the greater area of Lausanne-Morges, in immediate proximity to Bercher station, the terminal of the Lausanne-Echallens-Bercher line (LEB). This line is in fact expected to strongly develop in the coming decades, which calls into question the future of the sites located near the various stations.
The open studios exhibition also coincided with the launch of a book presenting the activities of the numerous laboratories that make up the field of architecture at EPFL. The Laboratory of Architecture and Sustainable Technologies (LAST) presents its research and teaching in the field of sustainable architecture, with particular emphasis on the transcription of the principles of sustainability at different levels of intervention - from urban design to building components - and for the integration of innovative and evaluative criteria into architectural design.