News

“Architecture Philosophy nº6 is out”

Published:31.10.23 — “The new issue is co-sponsored by the ACHT Lab.”

Trois lieux clés du quartier des Nations repensés pour durer

Published:18.10.23 — De jeunes architectes de l’EPFL ont imaginé des installations légères construites en bois et en terre crue à Genève à travers le réemploi. Destinées au grand public, elles sont érigées dans le jardin du Musée international de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge, le parc Rigot et l’entrée des Feuillantines.

New postgrad course "Digital Timber Construction"

Published:19.04.23 — How can we leverage technology and digital tools to design innovative and sustainable wood construction projects?

Smart Living Lab Annual Report 2022

Published:19.07.23 — Discover the Smart Living Lab 2022 annual report! The succession of unprecedented crises that continue to beset our society calls for profound changes in how we produce and use buildings. These have an impact on the environment and the climate because they consume energy and natural resources for the sake of human comfort. They can also affect our health, and raise geopolitical challenges due to issues surrounding access to raw and construction materials. Our lifestyles have dramatically changed since the COVID-19 pandemic, which has in turn led us to use the built environment in new ways. These changes require innovative technological and social solutions that are driven by scientific progress.

Reinventing interactions between architecture and water

Published:06.12.23 — Prof. Emmanuel Rey was invited to write the editorial for the AS Architecture's latest issue, a leading Swiss magazine published four times a year in German and French since 1972. Entitled "A resource under pressure", it focuses on the current challenges of water management for architectural projects, at different scales of intervention. This issue also presented the Rhodanie urbaine research project, developed by the Laboratory of Architecture and Sustainable Technologies (LAST).

How do you eliminate traffic jams on the freeway?

Published:08.11.23 — To ease traffic congestion, the Federal Council wants to widen the Nyon-Geneva freeway to three lanes. For Alexis Gumy, postdoctoral fellow at the Urban Sociology Laboratory at EPFL, "the risk is great of shifting traffic jams onto the access roads. Should we widen them too? Because the freeway is only one link in the transport system." Instead, the researcher recommends developing carpooling or other car-sharing solutions and the public transport network.

3D detectors measure social distancing to help fight Covid-19

Published:07.05.21 — A team of EPFL researchers has repurposed an algorithm they initially developed for self-driving cars to help people comply with social distancing requirements. Their program, which works with a camera, can detect whether individuals are maintaining the right distance to prevent infection – without collecting any personal data. It could be useful for public transport systems, in shops and restaurants, and even in factories.

Is there a physiological explanation behind experiencing glare?

Published:16.11.23 — Understanding glare is important for improving visual comfort in the built environment. Specific pigments in the eye reduce perception of glare from a blue colored light source, but the pigments do not explain sensitivity to neutrally colored light, EPFL scientists show.

What will the Grande Dixence region look like 200 years from now?

Published:07.12.23 — Master’s project – An EPFL architecture student explored what the area around the Grande Dixence dam in Valais Canton might look like in 2223, drawing on scientific data to shed light on the long-term implications of environmental change.

What can the Avanchet-Parc housing complex teach us today?

Published:09.05.23 — In this column, published in three regional dailies, researcher and architect Giulia Marino discusses how the Avanchet-Parc housing complex near Geneva can inspire future ecodistricts