Semester reviews of the RELIEFS URBAINS design studio
Reliefs urbains © EPFL / LAST / T. Beuret
This week took place the end-of-semester reviews at the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne. For Prof. Emmanuel Rey's studio, it was an opportunity to discuss the ongoing explorations of over thirty students who worked on designing a new neighborhood on the hillsides of Neuchâtel. The guest experts on this occasion were Sibylle Kössler, an architect from Lausanne, and Cyril Lecoultre, an architect from Nyon.
At a time of climate emergency and contraction of available resources, the architectural project has a central role in the search for alternatives to urban sprawl. It allows for the regeneration and densification of buildings near public transport and, more broadly, the inclusion of good construction practices within the transition dynamics toward a low-carbon society.
In the Swiss context, a large part of the urbanized areas is on slopes. This condition generates multiple challenges in terms of building and mobility. The implantation of buildings and the creation of public spaces are confronted with unavoidable questions regarding the relationship to the ground level and the minimization of soil excavation. In terms of mobility, it is a matter of rediscovering and revaluing electric transport techniques, specifically adapted to the slope, developed before the hegemony of the car.
Located in the Monruz sector to the east of the city of Neuchâtel, the site selected for the 2024-2025 edition could undergo major changes in terms of decarbonized mobility. The potential emergence of a mobility hub, including a new railway stop and an additional station for the La Coudre – Chaumont funicular, extended downstream, would greatly enhance public transport services. Currently occupied by a scattered residential fabric and by an imposing group of buildings with no interaction with the public space, the site is characterized, at the same time, by contrasting scales and the quality of its visual openings, which encourages architectural reflection on its possible future.
The RELIEFS URBAINS studio will aim to explore, through the architectural project, the multiple issues, and potentialities of such a site. The studio will emphasize the question of intermediate housing, landscaping, and networking of public spaces according to the singular characteristics of the site.