Once a month, the Laboratory of Urban Sociology organizes a seminar with a researcher interested in cities or urban phenomena. The presentation lasts about 45 minutes and is followed by an exchange with the audience. The sessions are held in French and sometimes in English.
- Participation in the seminar sessions is open
- For more information : [email protected]
The seminars are open to the general public upon registration (here).
Upcoming seminars
The Homegrown City
Viewed from the EPFL campus, in Renens, Switzerland, the homegrown city appears like a distant reality. Locally developed, without urbanists, engineers or architects, homegrown habitats are usually seen as surviving fragments from what we once called the “Third World”—pre-industrial, backward, irrational and anachronistic. I challenge that view and argue that homegrown urbanism is a prevailing or latent condition everywhere. Drawing from cases in India, Japan, Colombia and Switzerland, I will present a practice that radically departs from the project-centric approach that currently dominates the urban design imagination. I will propose a method based on the acceptance of incremental transformation as the basis for a future that is not only more inclusive and robust, but also more efficient and beautiful.
- 31.03.2026 – Francesca Cellina, SUPSI, Mendrisio (EN)
- 14.04.2026 – Manfred Max Bergman, Universität Basel (EN)
- 28.04.2026 – Ola Söderström, Université de Neuchâtel (FR)
- 26.05.2026 – Axelle Grégoire, Omanoeuvres (FR)
Past seminars
Since 2019, the LaSUR seminars have hosted numerous speakers. Below, you will find a list of past presentations.
2024-2025
- David Guéranger – Ecole des Ponts ParisTech
- Alexandre Rigal (CEREMA), Tiphaine Robert (Universität Bern), Clément Rames (EPFL), Pierre-André Horth (CEREMA) et Richard Grimal (CEREMA)
- Victor Santos Rodriguez – SciencesPo Paris
- Nerea Viana Alzola – Université de Genève
- Julie-Anne Boudreau – Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
- Jules Grandvillemin – EPFL
- Felipe Link – Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
- Nagy Makhlouf – EPFL
- Tommaso Vitale – SciencesPo Paris
- Juliet Fall – UNIGE
- Mara Ferreri – Politecnico di Torino
- Mathieu Berger et Daniel Cefaï – UCLouvain et EHESS
- Maxime Felder – EPFL
- Tiphaine Robert – EPFL
2022-2023
- Benjamin Motte-Baumvol – Université de Bourgogne
- Quentin David – Université de Lille
- Clément Rivière – Université de Lille
- Mathieu Berger – UCLouvain
- Hlib Vysheslavskyi – EPFL
- Nathalie Fanzy et Chloé Montavon – EPFL
2021-2022
- Ifigeneia Dimitrakou – Universität Zurich
- Thierry Theurillat – HES-SO
- Laurent Cailly
- Mathias Lerch – EPFL
- Armelle Choplin – UNIGE
- Hanna Hilbrandt – UZH
- Renate Albrecher – EPFL
- Anouk Flamant – Université Paris Lumières
- Anne Bretagnolle – Panthéon-Sorbonne
- Armelle Hausser et Marie Trossat – EPFL
- Élie Guéraut – Clermont-Auvergne
- Sonia Curnier – EPFL
2020-2021
- Joan Stavo-Debauge – EPFL
- Jian Zhuo – Université de Tongji (Shanghai, Chine)
- Emma Peltier – Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée
- Philippe Viala – Canton de Genève
- Florian Masse – EPFL
- Maya El Khawand – EPFL
2019-2020
- Mariana Fernandes Mendes et Laurie Daffe – EPFL
- Caroline Gallez – Institut français des sciences et technologies des transports
- Martin Schüler et Pierre Dessemontet – EPFL
- Gaspard Lion – Paris Sorbonne