IDEAS interdisciplinary Minor graduation
Campus EPFL © EPFL / Jamani Caillet
Jointly initiated by the Laboratory of Architecture and Sustainable Technologies (LAST) and the Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Performance-Integrated Design (LIPID), this minor aims at reinforcing the integration of sustainability transitions and interdisciplinarity issues in the Master Cycle of the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC). At the occasion of the EPFL Graduation Day held on October 5th, six new graduate students simultaneously obtained an interdisciplinary Minor in Integrated design, Architecture and Sustainability (IDEAS). Since the creation of the IDEAS Minor, approximately one hundred students have embarked on this path.
Sustainability transitions issues occupy central stage in questions related to our built environment. Considering the climatic emergency, these aspects hold a central position in research and practical work related to architecture and building engineering. Facing these challenges, the IDEAS Minor aims at structuring this existing offer in a targeted orientation for the ENAC students of the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC).
The Minor is built around a list of 22 classes spread over both semesters. They are selected from the existing course offering. This selection offers a combination of theory classes – focusing on comfort, energy, environment and infrastructures - and project-oriented classes. In order to obtain the Minor, 30 credits ECTS have to be validated throughout the duration of the Master. The central thread of this orientation is based on an in-depth approach of sustainable architecture principles, which rely on the simultaneous integration of various parameters: efficient use of resources, optimal user comfort mainly through passive means, bioclimatic specificities in a perspective of a low carbon society.
Among the fourteen graduate students who obtained the IDEAS Minor in 2024, Juliette Auer, Raoul Cordoba, Luana Ferrari and Serayu Gujja were registered in the Architecture section (SAR) and Diego Houtart and Andréa Rakotoarinivo in the Civil Engineering section (SGC).