The 2024 City of Ecublens Prize for a project carried out at LAST
Maquette de détail © EPFL / PDM Julien Pignat
The master's project by Julien Pignat, carried out at the Laboratory of Architecture and Sustainable Technologies (LAST), was awarded the Prix de la Ville d'Ecublens at the recent Master's degree graduation ceremony 2024. His work focuses on the issue of component reuse in architecture in the context of urban transition.
The reuse of materials is interesting from several points of view: it minimizes the need to extract materials, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and generates local, non-transferable employment. However, integrating it into practice brings with it new challenges in terms of project dynamics, methods of working with materials and implementation conditions. The proximity of extraction sites, matching supply and demand, the effort required, storage and the technical requirements of the elements are also part of these challenges.
Within this context, Julien Pignat analyzed the various issues involved in design incorporating reused elements, leading him to propose an original methodology for “reverse design”, which is induced by reuse. Thanks to this work, he subsequently developed an original architectural project to experiment with this strategy - as an alternative to a clean slate - for the northern sector of Plaines-du-Loup (current site of the Service des automobiles et de la navigation) and an urban mine (halles de Beaulieu, scheduled for demolition).
The proposed approach, which integrates multiple technical and programmatic issues, explores new shared spaces with mixed programs dedicated to education, sport and coworking, both in existing converted buildings and in new volumes created through reuse. In so doing, it highlights the theoretical relevance and practical feasibility of transformation and reuse as a basis for architectural design.
The follow-up group of this master's project, entitled “Plaines-du-Loup : le réemploi comme moteur d'un quartier en transition”, consisted of Prof. Emmanuel Rey (supervisor, LAST), Prof. Marilyne Andersen (professor, LIPID) and Loïc Fumeaux (mentor, LAST).