Rolex University Centre, Lausanne

Architects: Kazuyo Sejima, Ryue Nishizawa – SANAA
Text: Bálint Botzheim
Photos: ©EPFL

Not far from the shore of the Lake of Geneva the Federal Technical College of Lausanne (EPFL) has found its new home as architects of SANAA actually realized the concept defined in the title. The range of the Alps and the countryside are not only present as a picturesque background but also as the main characters of an architectural analogy. The sailboats of the lake had a similar story. The architectural concept of SANAA had the mass of the building defined by topography instead of architectonics, whilst the areas with various functions float in the continuous space just like the sailboats on the waves of the Lake of Geneva.

Építészet / architecture: SANAA
Vezető építészek / leading architects: Kazuyo Sejima, Ryue Nishizawa
Munkatársak / fellow architects: Yumiko Yamada, Rikiya Yamamoto, Osamu Kato, Naoto Noguchi, Mizuko Kaji, Takayuki Hasegawa, Louis-Antoine Grego
Megbízó / client: EPFL Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Svájci társtervezők / co-architects in Switzerland: Architram sa Renens