New, sustainable structures installed at three iconic sites in Geneva
ALICE building site started in May 2023 at the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum .©2023 EPFL/M.Geiser-CC-BY-SA 4.0
EPFL architecture students have designed lightweight structures made from recycled wood and earth for three public spaces in Geneva: Parc Rigot; the entrance to Parc des Feuillantines; and the gardens of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum.
Since this summer, Genevans have had new places to relax in the shade near Place des Nations, at the heart of the city’s international district. The wood and earth structures were built earlier this year during a group project involving 220 first-year architecture students at EPFL. The new intake of students who started the School in September will update and expand these structures.
The project is part of an initiative led by the Design Studio on the Conception of Space (ALICE) at EPFL’s School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC). The initiative was introduced eight years ago and Geneva has hosted the students’ creations for the past four years. Budding architects get a unique opportunity to combine theory and practice by working on a project from end to end – from the initial design through to full-scale construction – over the course of a year. The students gain unparalleled insights into the challenges that come with working as a team, such as learning to let things go and adapting to change.
The three structures in International Geneva were built under the initiative’s Résonance cycle – a new, 3-year cycle that focuses on building materials and their reuse. It was introduced by professors Dieter Dietz and Daniel Zamarbide and architect Teresa Cheung, following their previous cycles on the built environment. All structures in this cycle will be made from wood and rammed earth, with the wood sourced from either demolished buildings or local sawmills, and the earth from nearby construction sites.
In the past, students had been tasked with designing and building pavilions and larger structures. Now, these have given way to smaller, scattered installations that can be adapted to keep pace with evolving needs and practices for public spaces.
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum
ALICE has a long-standing partnership with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum. This year’s students revamped most of the structures built in 2022 at the entrance to the museum and in the surrounding grounds. For instance, they added a roof to the first structure that can be seen from Avenue de la Paix and reinforced its rammed-earth wall. They also redesigned the bleachers around a tree in order to make better use of the shade. The young architects added landscaping elements in keeping with the new layout of the museum’s gardens, and installed an aqueduct that carries rainwater from the flags above the building’s entrance to a water tower.
Parc Rigot
Parc Rigot, recently redeveloped, is a popular place to relax and unwind in one of Geneva’s busiest neighborhoods. Here, the ALICE students built a new entrance on Avenue de la Paix so that visitors can access the park from the north during forthcoming work on the adjacent tram lines. Inside the park, new rammed-earth seats surround an ancient oak tree, offering somewhere to shelter from the sun’s glare. A path leads from this space to a public square featuring a newly installed wooden structure, which again serves as a place to stay cool on a hot summer’s day. The students also made use of the park’s abundant vegetation to create additional footpaths leading from Place des Nations. This renovation work, which is backed by Geneva Canton, is part of ongoing efforts to enhance the park, which include planting more vegetation and providing more spaces for socializing.
Parc des Feuillantines
Nearby, the students set about converting an unused plot of land at the entrance to Parc des Feuillantines on the corner of Avenue de la Paix – between the kiosk and Place des Nations – into a recreational space. They installed wooden platforms and rammed-earth columns, all of different sizes, which have transformed the topography of the space and turned it into a place to relax and have fun.
Étudiant.e.x.s 1ère année
Studio Alonso
Brigitte Bravo Prado, Tristan Choulat, Sofia De Rham, Marie De Taisne, Matteo Descoeudres, Alexis Durgnat, Valérie Gallegos , Mara Giacomelli, Maya Hirsch, Tamara Khalil, Hugo Moreira Ferreira, Ali Nkoulou, Elia Piatti, Jonathan Robert, Paul Saïag, Qiara Schuermans, Leilani Shepherd Mäder, Samsara Valentini, Chloé Vuigner, Ruiyi Wang & Mohammad Yassin
Studio Bengana
Anastasie Bingi Mwamba, Erin Boissonnard, Hafsa Boudhir, Mathéo Cedraschi, Cheryl Dessart, Alexandre Galiotto, Pablo Girard, Sam Girardin, Mathieu Juillerat, Iris Karhu-Leperd, Tom Liechti, Costanza Mizrahi, Viktor Monnier, Luca Monteleone, Thomas Morandini, Léa Roberts, Céline Rogger, Lili Rouveure, Noa Savoini, Candice Schröder & Bruno Siebmanns
Studio Boeckle
Alma Baumgartner, Antoine Baussière, Méline Beuret, Romane Bianco, Anne Bochard, Julie Borella, Mayli Bourgne, Lama Boustany, Kyan Chanson, Blerta Dalipova, Nils Eveno, Axel Guérin, Noah Lespect, Kim Martinson, Benoit Nichols, Florian Perrenoud, Matilda Poretti, Emma Righini, Hugo Tofiño Vazquez, Kristel Van Der Poel & Alexandre Vojacek
Studio Cirstoc
Blai Abel Serrano, Adrien Avondet, Matteo Bourdin, Léa Bredou, Tess Cerruti, David De Almeida Catalao, Inès Ducrest, Joya El Laham, Etienne Favet, Sofia Gomez Duque, Augustin Guillod, Yasmine Helfand, Roman Jeanneret-Grosjean, Liliana Lorenzo Serantes, Mathis Maghe, Camille Schmidig, Amanda Schwab, Ilia Stanton, Noa Varé & Basile Zbinden
Studio Clément
Karim Anello Iqbal, Daniel Azrak Marban, Colin Baumgartner, Attis Bijleveld, Charles Bordry, Ella Bottari, Alice Boyadjian--Prével, Andrea-Joanna Cascaval, Manon Charrière, Marco Cipresso, Emilie De Palézieux Dit Falconnet, Anna Felappi, Esteban Germann, Arnaud Halil, Joachim Iynédjian, Nora Mänz, Maurice Paulsen, Eva Père, Léantine Piquerez, Gustavo Pires Killer & Zoé Savary
Studio Fauvel
Fatima Alame, Martina Alloro, Aksel Besse, Léo Besson, Kristina Cittolin, Maxime De Santo, Antonin Décaillet, Quentin Della Santa, Ilaria Gironi, Raphaël Hadorn, Adélaïde Kazazian, Maurine Magnin, Thibaut Mansart, Louis Mistral, Mathilde Pellet, Benjamin Pocovi, Luca Rinaldi, Carla Scharff-Hansen, Maxime Schreyer & Josèpha Zenou
Studio Frascoli
Ezekiel Bürki, Inès Burlion, Nicolas Cattin, Juliette Chantraine, Pierre Curci, Carla Devallet, Elise Donnet-Descartes, Laila Fahmy, Valentina Fantini, Beatriz, Gabriel Ribeiro, Diego Gimenez, George Hall Allen, Jérémie Hoang, Darcey Knott, Marie-Loriane Lascha, Flore Pogodalla, Clémentine Rigo, Paul Schellingen & Flavio Silvestri
Studio Maréchal
Axel Bouvier, Adrien De Montpellier De Vedrin, Emma Dunand-Chatellet, Léa Duterme, Balthasar Eberle, Noélia Fernandez, Yannick Galeuchet, Inès Giacometti, Albane Goux-Thiercelin, Kesavan Januaga, Faith Lee, Clarissa Lettieri, Barath Parameswaran, Nina Rivier, Amina Stoenescu, Hugues Terosier, Régis Villemin, Danilo Vultaggio, Arwen Wohlwend & Medea Zullino
Studio Meylan
Julie Berger, Yaelle Bertschy, Michaël Di Dio, Maeva Eap, Maël Fidanza, Jordan Fierro Pereda, Emma Fournier, Dulguun Galkhuu, Anne Lhopiteau, Célia Meylan, Dilaxshan Pirabaharan, Maryam Rili, Felix Ringaby, Pablo Sanchez, Olivia Steels, Takumi Tsukada & Nikita Turelli
Studio Pretolani
Leo Bovier, Robin Chavanne, Tristan Combépine, Anastasia Conrad, Andrea Crespo Salas, Marie Farquet, Aïna Froidevaux, Yohann Kunz, Theo Kurz, Joana Lopes Mendes, Nathan Magnin, Florent Monges, Wilson Osorio Moreno, Henna Rafik, Samy Rossier, Grégory Rudin, Gaby Salin, Marion Schaub, Adrien Stajic, Apolline Viet & Elisabeth Weber
Studio Wegman
Varun Ahuja, Célia Barman, Diama Bassé, Milos Cernak, Elise De Fejer, Alejandro Del Río Menéndez, Joanne Fahrni, Yédidya Farescour, Gabriel Frias Pinto, Alexandre Hüni, Anis Kabeche, Sakura Korsholm, Claire Labonnelie-Tocci, Germain Moskovitch, Francesco Tenenti & Yun Yao
Assistant.e.x.s étudiant.e.x.s
David Biedermann, Carlotta Boxebeld, Marta Brovelli, Louise Chappuis, Antonietta Chiara, Raoul Cordoba , Adam El-Hamadeh, Frederico Goncalves Silva, Eliott Hounieu, Romain Masoni , Gabriel Ogbonna, Quentin Paillat, Karen Schuler, Raphaël Stäubli & Manon Thévenaz
A-Team
Hafsa Boudhir, Mathéo Cedraschi, Milos Cernak, Manon Charrière, Anastasia Conrad, Michaël Di Dio, Emma Dunand-Chatellet, Maël Fidanza, Diego Gimenez, Albane Goux-Thiercelin, Iris Karhu-Leperd, Liliana Lorenzo Serantes, Thibaut Mansart, Kim Martinson, Paul Saïag, Candice Schröder, Régis Villemin, Yun Yao & Manuel Potterat
ALICE y1 Team
Román Alonso, Alia Bengana, Bianca Anna Boeckle, Laurent Chassot, Raluca Cirstoc, Augustin Clément, Camille Fauvel, Arianna Frascoli, Victor Maréchal, Jonas Meylan, Manuel Potterat, Mattia Pretolani & Uri Wegman
ALICE Heads
Teresa Cheung (Y1), Patricia Guaita (Techne), Lucía Jalon Oyarzun (Research), Ruben Valdez (Design Research)
ALICE Direction
Dieter Dietz & Daniel Zamarbide
ALICE Administration
Jaime Ruiz
ALICE Communications
Claire Logoz & Owen Magnier
ALICE Research, Design Research & Techne Poles
Tiphaine Abenia, Emmanuelle Agustoni, Raffael Baur, Aurélie Dupuis, Aitor Frias Sanchez, Julien Lafontaine Carboni, Nagy Makhlouf, Estefania Mompean Botias, Aurèle Pulfer, Malcom Onifadé, Elena Orap & Eloïse Vo
ÉTAT DE GENÈVE
Office cantonal de l’agriculture et de la nature (OCAN)
cheffe de projet espaces publics: Tiphaine Bussy
directeur du paysage et forêts: Patrik Fouvy
garde forestier: Louis Bretton
Office de l’Urbanisme (OU) département du territoire, Canton de Genève
chef de projet: Florent Agat
urbaniste cantonale: Ariane Widmer
Services industriels de Genève (SIG)
directeur géoréférencement et coordination du territoire: Martin Hugues
direction Smart City - GCT: Marc Blumet
logisticien encadrant: Daniel Menétrey
responsable Stocks: Jean-Pierre Morzier
responsable. transport terrestre: Roger Mathyer
VILLE DE GENÈVE
Direction du patrimoine bâti - Architecte chef de projet: Olivier Miche
Direction des infrastructures - Office cantonal des bâtiments - Gérant d’immeuble: Thierry Lin
Institut des hautes études internationales et du développement (IHEID)
directrice de cabinet: Laurence Algarra
directeur de recherche: Grégoire Mallard
Novae Restauration SA: Philippe Bergeon
Musée international de la CroixRrouge et du Croissant Rouge
directeur général : Pascal Hufschmid
chargé de mission: Jonas Chereau
directrice promotion et partenariats: Anne-Outram Mott
Responsable de communication et de contenus numériques: Cecilia Suarez
restaurant manager: Hélder De Almeida
technicien: Marco Domingues
Architecture Land Initiative (ALIN)
coopératrice, architecte: Léonore Némec
Embassy of Foreign Artists: Richard Le Quellec
Association Materiuum
co-directrice: Maude Massard-Friat
Terrabloc
ingénieurs: Rodrigo Fernandez, Grégoire Aguettant
Laboratory of Construction Materials (LMC - EPFL)
Professor Karen Scrivener, Lionel Sofia, Jean Dias Rego, Antonio Costarella
Yannick Claessens & Pascal Favre: Aide pour Chantier en pisé
Juan Orjuela: architecte & artisan pisé
Antoine Cartier: architecte & charpentier
Julien Gamerro: ingénieur civil bois
Lignum
président de Lignum Genève: Claude Haegi
Cora Bois
directeur: Rémy Condevaux
Leuba Hiag SA
responsable du site: Maurice Manera
Les Deux Rivières
associé, architecte: Roland Freymond
associé, arboriste: Cyril Pasche
Freitag
tarp supply: Claudia Hefti
Marti SA
conductrice de travaux: Chloé Houette
Balestrafic SA
directeur: Andrea Genecand
Dip SA
directeur: Gilles Paris
Eurostone SA
directeur: Luca Silvestri
directrice: Pasqualina Silvestri
Jaquet SA
directrice, architecte-paysagiste: Aude Jaquet
directeur adjoint: Laurent Magnin
Pépinière Meylan
directeur: Jérôme Meylan
Makita
responsable du marketing: Yan Delacombaz
Festival Images Vevey
directeur: Stefano Stoll
Production et administration: Raphaël Biollay
photographe: Daido Moriyama
Centre d’enseignement professionnel de Vevey (CEPV)
doyenne photographie: Léonore Veya
maître principal: Nicolas Savary
enseignant: Mathieu Bernard-Reymond
Étudiant.e.x.s CEPV
Matéo Brocard, Manon Buhagar, Asia Calabrò, Lucien Crausaz, Sasha Divià, Théo Dufloo, Max Gigon, Laura Grand, Laurent Isler, Théophile Maeder, Aude Mayer & Julie Robinson
Hall Bleue Fribourg
director of operations EPFL Fribourg and Smart Living Lab: Martin Gonzenbach
head of technical unit - EPFL: Claude-Alain Jacot
technical specialist - EPFL: Stéphane Pilloud
associate professor UAS - HEIA-FR: Hani Buri
Intervenant.e.x.s invité.e.x.s
Grégoire Aguettant, Antoine Cartier, Gilles Clément, Nicolas Coeckelberghs, Daniel Estevez, Roman Karrer, Jacques Kaufmann, Martin Mackowitz, Léonore Nemec, Juan Orjuela & Julien Rippinger
Centre d’appui de l’enseignement (CAPE), EPFL
conseillère pédagogique: Ingrid Le Duc, Natascia Petringa
collaborateur scientifique: Yousef Jalali