Devanthéry & Lamunière: Pathfinders 9783764379049

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PATHFINDERS

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\The pre-e)Mpgfagacle of the Tov^Hal! was non-functional apjd1ts|pneral aspect wrdeiy disparaged, m ^ n i t i a l ^ d y f o ^ windows witin \ ^ c a l centrai p i v o t s ; ^ (ecarlomicai use of space, easyVq^ihten^nce)^^ resolved ^mperature^^^ by inst^lHfig a two-layer system sus^ pehdedfrorri^plfd steelTi^^ and connprisedx^f^^ glass apdscreen blinds, along with/perforated me^sh^ets for v e r ^ In cold or in^i^npm weather t!:)^ass windows can be kept clbsed with thejfefnndsi-aised; when t h V ^ is hot and humid, th^^ass windows can be open behindHhe perfop^ed rnetal^andthei j o l i n d s l ^ raised; and on warpruine days the panes behind the perforated m ^ l wili beopen and th^^ Today. th^^Town Hall clock may no longer toll the hour, but its technology, has become a visual, multicoloured new^S^nTScreen" fag^^^^ ''barpme^;":announcing t l ^ ^ of the weather at all times.

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''.,bodeic^ked. tittle:hpuses.: A;\A/ofId wh^r^ ;eye:rV-gai:-et:eri^^i^-the' pfettie'st;.;the most elistindtivie',, the'iTiGst' ^ /•••.perspnalv-This hQus^^^ lis. •^sdleMge^Heis.i^ into th^ lay'of'the tand^nd't^nsforrnihg fha -^ .:youhg:yin^$/and •\;pr^ryed;;;}aj^d th.0 roof:o1^^t^^^

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80 I CD O C_3 CO

>4^sfracf2(2001), pp. 20-23

Architectura 16 (2003), pp. 80-82

AV Monographlas 89 (May-June 2001), pp. 92-95

Rivlsta TecnlcaMn2 (2001), pp. 46-55

Fagade 3 (2001), pp. 53, 56-58

Fagade 3 (2001), pp. 53-54, 57-58

Construire en Suisse: guide de i'architecture contempo-

Renovation Actuelle 5 (1999), pp. 17-22

ralne, Hochparterre, pp. 36-41

lAS/SIA 14 (1998), pp. 222-223

65. Rural Villages 63. Conversion of West Wing off Geneva Station

Study order, 1998-1999, Vaud environmental planning department

Project, 1997. Construction: 1999-2000.

Potential for development of rural villages.

Editorial offices of Le Temps newspaper,

Case-study: the village of Bougy-Villars,

passageways and shopping areas.

Vaud

Place Cornavin, Geneva Collaborators: Isabelle Charollais, Sylvie Pfaehler

66. Entire Days among the Trees

Faces 54 (2004), pp. 14-15 Idea 2 (2002), pp. 3-7

Competition, first prize, 1999. Construction:

Baf/r2(2001), pp. 37-43

2000. Colline de Montriond, Lausanne, Vaud

Suggestions Auftakt/Prelude, Basel: Birkhauser, 2001,

In association with Laurent Daune,

pp. 20-23

landscaper

Suggestions DIskurs/Dlscourse, Basel: Birkhauser, 2001. CD 1: Density in the City (dialogue with Mirko Zardini)

IAS/SIA 5 (2000), p. 97 L'Hebdo: le mois culturel 4 (2000), p. 14 SIA Schwelzer Ingenieur und Architekt 15 (2000), p. 344

64. Fleuret Law Library Project, 1998. Construction: 1999-2000.

67. Conversion to Quadriplex

Edouard Fleuret Foundation, Department of

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Law, University of Lausanne, Dorigny, Vaud

Project, 1999. Construction: 2000.

In association with Gabriel de Freudenreich.

Chemin de la Grande Cour, Trolnex, Geneva

Collaborator: Hieronyme Lacroix

Collaborator: Simon Chessex

68. Two Large Residential Buildings

Study. Approximately three hundred uncontrolled-rent flats on a former estate

Study, 2000. Grand-Saconnex, Geneva In association with Pierre-Alain Renaud The context is a new residential district planned around a set of slab buildings comprising more than six hundred reasonablerent dwelling units. The overall plan pays homage to the tradition of this kind of approach, as represented by the modernism of the 1950s and 1960s in Geneva. As for the two buildings to be commissioned, the project proposes dimensions and strategies that underscore the structural value as objects. A system of twofloor-loggias (based on the floor-to-floor distribution of living room/kitchens across the

on the edge of the city. The planned "big house", destined for the site of the original country seat surrounded by its grounds, is a large diamond-shaped block of flats enclosing a quadrangle. This form and its geometrical features amount to a reinvention of an urban model, notably with regard to the exposure to sunlight of all its facets. The installation of this island model as an independent entity within the natural parkland makes it something of a curiosity as a piece of city architecture. 70.1 Aerial view

fagade) makes it possible to enjoy hanging gardens from within but also to endow the architecture, as viewed from the outside, at once with greater geometrical abstraction and with a certain vegetal quality overall.

71.

Bien travailler, bien s'amuser/ Working hard, playing hard

Project, 2000. Construction: discarded by the Expo 02 organisers. Children's Pavilion, Expo Nationale 02, Biel, Bern

68.1 Typical floor plan

In association with Kathy Karatchian

68.2 Features of fagades and of building plan 72. Migros Shopping Centre 69. Place Cornavin Study, 2000. Migros, Brunnen, Bern Competition, 2000. Place Cornavin, Geneva In association with Ueli Zbinden

A compact form in the desolate outskirts of Bern, this project, with its "peripheral cen-

69.1 Night view of the square

trality", is tightly bound to the motorway and the Bern RER (metropolitan railway). Though

70. A "Big House" In Parkland

not contesting the financial justification for the vast hangars that are the usual approach

Competition, joint first prize, 2000.

here, the project playfully dresses things up

La Garance, Route de Malagnou, Geneva

in a contemporary way: sandwiched parking

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areas, and combinations of different shop-

Conversion of a 1970s block of flats located

ping "worlds" camouflaged - gift-wrapped,

at the South Geneva motorway interchange.

as it were - in enticing multicoloured paper:

The new fagade improves acoustics and

the surprises are inside!

energy management. Its stainless steel cladding lends the building an emblematic

72.1 Site plan: the Bern-Neuchatel motorway exit 72.2 In section, layered motorway, shopping centre, car parks, and leisure centre 72.3 The translucent exterior and the "bar code" effect of the openings

and contemporary character, underscoring the function of its mass as a sign within the surrounding physical context and indeed giving it its rightful place within the motorway signing system.

73. A Clockmaking Factory Competition, first prize, 2000. Provisional project, 2001. Construction: postponed. Singer & Someco production centre, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Neuchatel Collaborator: Frederic Crausaz

75.1 View of the building

76. A Hillside Primary School Competition, 2001. Lonay, Vaud Terraced surfaces respond to the siting

Construction of a unit for the manufacture of clockfaces. The project embodies a radical

planes designed to choreograph the

approach to internal traffic flow, and a

approaches to the school in its Alpine

general economy of construction whose

setting. The dimensions of the structure,

minimalist aesthetic is reflected even in the

assisted by the construction principle of

new designs for the company's logo and

the fagades, evoke an archaic form

trademark.

somewhere between a wall and a mass.

73.1 Perspective view of the entrance

76.1 Model: the fagade design 76.2 On-site photomontage

74. Villa K Project, 2000. Construction: 2000-02. Fechy, VD Collaborators: Stephanie Suard, Tanya Zein

75. A Stainless Steel Skin Project, 2000. Construction: 2002-2003. Subsidised-rent (HLM) block of flats, Chemin de Treffle-Blanc, Plan-Les-Ouates, Geneva Collaborators: Vincent Mas-Durbec

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half-way up the hillside, along with inclined

77. Two Residential Buildings Pre-project, 2001. Avenue de BonneEsperance, Lausanne, Vaud

78. A Dental Clinic Conversion: 2001-2002, Planete Charmilles, Geneva In association with Vincent Rapin Collaborator: Vincent Mas-Durbec

A central space reinvents the traditional

81. The Plain of the Aire

waiting room. Evoking a middle-class reception room, it is furnished accordingly: bar, carpets, parquet floor, armchairs, coffee table. The dentists' examination rooms are adjacent to this space, behind large screen printed glass panels resembling translucent white curtains.

Pre-project order, 2001. Department of environmental planning, Geneva Devanthery/Lamuniere/Marchand association The Aire watercourse revitalisation plan provided an opportunity to redefine the future prospects of an area that was essentially rural in character but that could well, in the short or

79. A Flat Project, 2001. Construction: 2002. Rue St-Fort, Bordeaux, France Collaborator: Luis Amelia

longer ternn, come to exemplify the idea of an "urbanised park", where some kinds of agriculture would be protected in combination with newly introduced recreational and leisure activities. Beyond the general objectives

80. A Primary School

implied by a restoration of natural features and a revitalisation of the Aire, the project

Competition, first prize, 1999. Construction: 2001-2003. Promenade des Grandes-Buttes, Rolle, Vaud Collaborator: Alexandre Clerc

former canal (which dates from the 1930s)

A+U 410 (November 2004), pp. 76-83

thoroughfare given over to pedestrian mobility.

proposes a public way and a new use for the and its border of poplars: the idea is to dredge the canal and turn it into a public

Techniques & Architecture 473 (August/September 2004), pp. 80-85

Faces 50 (Winter 2001-2002), pp. 18-29

Faces 54 (Spring 2004), pp. 52-53

Traces 23 (November 2002), pp. 6-17

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82. Two Railway Museums

increased population density. With this in mind a study was ordered by the owners.

Competition, 2001. Alp Transit, Erstfeid, Uri, and Pollegio, Ticino In association with Stephanie Bender and Philippe Beboux

Three possible strategies were proposed: (1) construction in the gaps between existing factory sheds; (2) introduction of elements of the "pacemaker" type (i.e. com-

The project relates on the one hand to the

pletely new uses for existing structures);

landscape of the railway and on the other to

and (3) construction of an overall roof,

the mouth of the Gotthard Tunnel facing the

allowing use of both interior and exterior

Alps. Thus it creates its own topography by

spaces.

re-using the rock excavated from the tunnel and so giving material expression to the memory of the tunnelling operations; and,

83.1 Restauration of the existing fabric 83.2 The pacemaker solution 83.3 The overall roof solution

in the construction process itself, it uses leftover railbed ballast as aggregate for the concrete and metal for the superstructures.

84. A Very Large School

82.1 Model: the new topography

Cycle de Cayla, Geneva

83. Transformation of a Vacant

85. A Gym

Competition, third prize, 2002.

Industrial Facility Competition, third prize, 2002. Project, 2001. Construction: partial, 2004-

Gymnase de Beaulieu, Lausanne, Vaud

2005. Former SIP company premises, Geneva Collaborator: Vincent Mas-Durbec This area of factory buildings, fornnerly used for the production of scientific instruments, has already been partially rehabilitated, notably with the arrival of the Contemporary Art Centre in 1998 and then the Modern and Contemporary Art Museum in 1994. In the very heart of the city, the site provides an opportunity to contribute to the preservation

The fagade, with its "orange-skin" glass, exemplifies the construction approach adopted and offers a continually changing impression of the building: metaphorically speaking, it breathes and/or perspires; literally, it is responsive to wind, temperature, rain or sunshine, and its appearance registers all of these, albeit discretely, with a mild indistinctness that preserves the unity of this urban structure.

of the industrial heritage while at the same time responding to the requirements of

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Hochparterre.Wettbewerbe (2003), pp. 86-87

86. Restoration, Clarte II Project, 2002. Construction: 2002. Rue Saint-Laurent, Geneva Collaborator: Vincent Mas-Durbec This conversion of a single-level five-room flat is a continuation, on the one hand, of project specifications issued in 1994 for the renovation of the exterior of this building, built by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret in 1932; and, on the other hand, of the partial reconstruction, under the same contract, of a large duplex (see Catalogue entry 33).

87. Rezoning of an Agricultural Area

Study, 2002. La Chapelle-Les Sciers, Geneva Overall planning, Geneva State Department of Development, Public Facilities and Housing (DAEL). In partnership with Xavier Fischer Devanthery/Lamuniere/Marchand association The area in question, which includes a number of properties, is at present zoned for agriculture, but the City planning department (DAEL) intends to reclassify it for the construction of new collective-housing districts. The study currently under way seeks to ascertain the defining characteristics of the landscape and suggest different approaches to urban development in this vicinity according to density of occupation and varied living patterns.

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88. Renovation of the Saleve Cablecar

90. Maison de la paix / Peace House

Order for pre-project, 2002. Saleve Cablecar

Avenue de la Paix, Geneva

Competition, 2002. IVIaison de la paix, Preservation Association and Bralllard Foundation, architects, Geneva Collaborator: Andres Souza Blanes de Cortes The project proposes to go back in time and fix the upper station in the precise form it had when first erected in late 1932. The intent is to develop the potential of this unfinished form, which is a sort of carcass of reinforced concrete with no real function beyond that of supporting the cables. The enlargement of the complementary built mass consists in the horizontal extension of the body of the structure. This approach makes it possible to do almost everything with almost

A public esplanade accommodates all approaches, as well as the main entrance to the United Nations Peace House, which looks out onto a glorious panorama of the Alps but at the same time falls under the spell of the adjacent railway areas, which places the site in symbolic and physical communion with travel - and thus with the wider world. As though suspended in its flight, a pure, white volume, softly rounded, floats above the esplanade, and above the whole district: the universally recognised sign and symbol of peace in the world.

nothing. As a result the landscape assumes a new dimension and all services and func-

90.1 Fagade, nighttime

tional devices are reorganised.

91. A Residential District in Town Exhibition: "Braillard, le teleplierique du Saleve", Palais de I'Athenee, Geneva, July-August 2002

Competition, first prize, 1997. Construction:

Exhibition: "Swiss Peaks", Van Allen Institute, New York,

2002-2004. Rue du Cret-Taconnet, Neuchatel

March-April 2003

Collaborators: Luis Amelia, Catherine Gaughran

88.1 Construction, still unfinished, in 1932 (Archives Braillard) 88.2 Cross-section 88.3 Photomontage: view of Mont-Blanc

Habitation 4 {^997),^p. 7-9

89. Maison de I'Environnement/ Environment House

92. Three Times 100 Rooms Competition, first prize, 1999. Construction: 2002-2004. Hotels Novotel, Ibis and Etape, Guisan Platz, Bern Collaborators: Marcel Kultscher, Jose Antonio

Competition, third prize, 2002. State of

Ramos

Geneva Department of the Environment. Route des Acacias, Geneva

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Hocliparterre 3 (March 2000), pp. 10-15

93. Town-Building in tlie Mountains Competition, second prize, 2002. Verbier, Valais Since every site is in some sense a "construction", the ainn here has been to construct the "natural". Not as kitsch or picturesque, but on 93.1

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H

M

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the contrary as a kind of choreographing of a fragment of the "scenery". Thus the plan restores to the sloping terrain its natural character as a series of inclined planes, re-establishing a valid relationship between the built masses and their interstices. The aim is this: to imagine each building as an independent volumetric entity; to discover the right scale consonant with the proposed building outlines; and to approach each chalet as invention and artefact. 93.1 Topographical principles 93.2 Plan of location; on the left, Medran station 93.3 Fagade of a large chalet

94. Aipine Ensemble Project, 2002. Construction: 2003-2004. Barn/Stable, Val d'Herens, Evoldne, Valais Collaborators: Frederic Dayer, Christian Pesch

95. HBM Dwellings (state-owned social housing) Competition, 2002. Quartier de Cressy, Bernex and Confignon, Geneva

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96. A School and a Neighbourhood Centre Competition, first prize, 2002. Construction: 2004-2006. Quartier Cressy, Bernex and Confignon, Geneva Collaborators: Frederic Crausaz, Franziska Gygax, Frederic Dayer, Barbara Queioz The school centre and the bus shelter are placed in the middle of a new ensennble of residential buildings. The project underlines the special nature of these public facilities. The four buildings are set apart from one another by virtue of a series of geometrical rotations creating intervening spaces that open into one another. Each of these four "objects" deposited upon their plateau of brushed concrete is enveloped by a double glass skin which ensures rational management of heat exchange. At night, this double skin lights up according to the result of the accumulated energy. Like four fireflies, their fluorescence epitomises the playful character of this public space. Exhibition: "U\MU HORS-CHAMP", ACM-EPFL, Ecublens, Lausanne, June 2003

96.1 View of the "fireflies" 96.2 Site plan: the school, the assembly hall, the gym and the square 96.3 Double glass skin at night 96.4 Bus stop and square by night

97. Philip IMorris internationai Headquarters Restricted tender offer, laureate project, 2002. Construction: 2004-2006. Avenue de Cour, Lausanne, Vaud

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Collaborators: Stephane Jordan, Clemens Blum, Frederic Dayer, Franziska Gygax, Kim Henny, Sacha Karati, Soazig Lemarchand, Philippe and Claudia Neher-Valent The focal point of Philip Morris International's activities, the Lausanne site extends over a large sloping lot between Avenue de Cour and Avenue de Rhodanie. To the south, it comnnands a view that embraces Lake Geneva and the Alps of Savoie. The approach to the project mandate is determined by the features of the site. The new building takes posession of the slope, whose full length is punctuated in parallel fashion by stacked elements of various dimensions. A single linear and perpendicular structure connects the office spaces and links them to the northern and southern building entrances, which are separated by more than twenty vertical metres. A succession of open courtyards lends rhythm to the whole and increases the availability of natural light on the slope. The fagades create an inter-axis dimension 411 cm wide for a new office-stype of 20 nf. They are designed on the principle of a post-and-beam construction with prefabricated and self-supporting components. The 1500 workstations are arranged like traditional offices, as indicated by the plan, which conceives a kind of great office machine, at once sophisticated and archaic. Exhibition: LAMU HORS-CHAMP, ACM-EPFL, Ecublens, Lausanne, June 2003 Faces 54 (2004), pp. 64-68

97.1

Model

97.2

Typical floor plan, section and side fagade

97.3

Prototype of the fagade (scale 1:1)

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98. Commmunity Centre Competition, 2002. Troinex, Geneva

99. Restoration off Geneva Ice-Skating Rink Project, 2002, Construction: postponed. Patinoire des Vernets, Geneva The Geneva Ice-Skating Rink (Servette Hockey Club) was built by Albert Cingria, Frangois Maurice and Jean Duret in 1956, and is one of the finest post-war sports facilities in Switzerland. The plan to add two terraced stands offers the opportunity to readdress a whole series of modifications made higgledypiggledy over the years that have seriously compromised the unique spatial character of the Great Rink. The scenic horizon line of the concrete stands is thus restored, leaving the four hundred seats newly installed (in accordance with National League norms), along with their own metal substructure and the new boxes and radio and press facilities, to add their own character to the mix. 99.1 Model: without roof 99.2 Model: with roof

100. Deutsciie Scliuie Competition, fourth prize, 2003. Veyrier, Geneva

1 0 1 . Villa Beck Project, 2003. Construction: 2004. Chemin des Giseaux, Rolle, Vaud Collaborator: Jose-Antonio Ramos

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102. Villa Fassbind

104. A Large State School

Project, 2003. Construction: 2004-2005.

Competition, 2003. Cycle d'orientation

Chemin des Bougeries, Conches, Geneva

Le Rollier, Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva

Collaborators: Jose-Antonio Ramos, Kim Henny A detached house dating from 1960 stands on this triangular lot. The project retains the four walls of this house but wraps and stretches them by means of a new sheath of

105. Abandoned Similor industrial Site Study, 2004. Housing and office buildings, Similor Kugler industrial site, Carouge, Geneva

reinforced concrete, creating two new wings (parents'/children's), as well as a third, which extends not only outwards but also upwards, atrium-like, adding two floors of empty space to the living room. The result is a unified mass, solid, sculptural, stable despite its extensions into the surrounding space.

106. Geneva Railway Station, East Wing Competition, joint first prize, 2004. Entered in complementary competition, 2004. Cornavin Station, Geneva Collaborators: Franziska Gygax, Simon Riva

Stratified concrete coloured in the mix and anodized bronze fittings reinforce the primi-

The plan completely reorganises the traffic

tive and sensual feeling, whereas staggered

flows and the uses of space inside Geneva

apertures at the corners tend to make things

Station. The station was built in 1936 and

more ethereal and more complex. Inside, the

since it has undergone a host of changes

contrasts between materials are very striking

that have so distorted the original spatial

(exfoliated slate, veined walnut, coloured

arrangennents as to turn this major Swiss

pebble and mosaic) and the dimensions of

railway station into a dysfunctional maze.

the spaces evoke traditional rooms rather

Competition for the redesign of the entire

than modernistic spatial continua.

station is an opportunity to extend the approach adopted when the west wing was

102.1 Volumetric diagram

converted in 2000; specifically, to retain the

102.2 Work in progress: garden side 102.3 Work in progress: street side

180-metre-long stone fagade of the original building, to build clearly defined and inde-

103. It was, it is, it will be....

inside the station, and to re-establish a single

pendent structural and spatial elements uninterrupted public area over the entirety Competition, 2003. Lausanne Jardins 2004

of the ground level so as to open the station

(Garden design in an urban setting).

up to the animated life of the surrounding

Malley-Renens, Lausanne, Vaud

streets. The sectional view shows how all the

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functional levels within the station (platfornns,

dining areas, terrace and pool. In short, a

passageways, halls) are covered by a vast

mise-en-scene set off by the luxurious and

glass roof that recalls, albeit in a contempo-

brilliant metal skin.

rary idiom, the great railway-station canopies of the 19th century.

108.1 Model

106.1 Cross-section: square. Grand Gallery, and platforms

109. Villa Bloc-Pasche

106.2 Perspective view of platform exit into Grand Gallery

107. A Police Station

Project, 2004. Paudex, Vaud

110. Villa Dorholt-Schokrollahi

Project, 2003. Construction: 2004. Lower

Project, 2004. Construction: 2004-2005.

South Passageway, Cornavin Station, Geneva

1, Chemin du Cygne, Preverenges, Vaud

Collaborator: Kim Henny

Collaborator: Luis Amelia A family house on two levels. The roughcast

108. Villa Ber-Scott Project, 2004. Construction: 2005-2006. Chemin de Rojoux, Conches, Geneva

mass of the sleeping quarters sits atop the glazed-in living areas. The abstraction of the fagades and the way the ground-floor slab is hemmed in the loose soil of the garden

A house in natural anodised sheet aluminum

easily defeat any threat of stasis.

seems to float above the ground. At basement level, screening rooms and home gym. At the lower ground-floor level, bedrooms and the base of the swimming pool. At the higher ground-floor level, the living and

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110.1 North fagade 110.2 West fagade

111. The New Priory Competition, first prize, 2004. District planning and ongoing project. Chemin Pres-duCouvent, Chene-Bougerie, Geneva Collaborators: Simon Riva, Frederic Meisser This new ensemble brings togetlier liousing for tine elderly, for people with nnultiple handicaps, and two residences for pensioners and students respectively. Based on the idea of shared facilities and services, the concept envisages large areas equally accessible to all inhabitants. The project distributes three large houses around a central patio open to the sky; the houses for their part preside over a series of gardens. This spatial arrangennent makes it clear that this is an institutional whole, but at the same time a fragment of the semi-urban landscape of the plateau of La Gradelle. The original approach situated built elements in a fluid fashion within the natural environment while at the same time creating new central points and giving the "village square" a modern meaning. The project pays homage to this persuasive vision of development, of the extension of the city, while at the same time evoking the spatial design of the priories of former times. 111.1 Site plan 111.2 Model 111.3 Sketch, general view

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112. Disused Railway Area, La Praiile, Geneva Competition, 2004, mention. Study of potential urban planning and development of disused railway area, La Praiile, Geneva. CFF Immobilier and Geneva State Department of Development, Public Facilities and Housing (DAEL). Devanthery/Lamuniere/Marchand association Collaborator: Christophe Kaladj Without forgetting the natural and built features of La Praiile, the project is based on a particular view of the landscape as defined by the railway and reconfigured around several interconnected "urban elennents": an interface comprised of a horizontal platform, where links are made between various kinds of transport - CEVA (Franco-Swiss rail link) station, tram stops, park-and-ride - and where structures of varying forms are located; a continuous strip, running along a hillside, with tower blocks of flats and associated infrastructure; and, lastly, the flat area where several 10-metre-high platforms are to be found that are reached by lifts and support industrial and craft structures.

112.1 Model 112.2 Development plan 112.3 Section: interface

113. Disused Railway Property, Zuricii Central Station Test planning. Study of potential urban planning and development of an area to the

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west of Zurich's central railway station. OFF Immobilier, La Poste Immobilier, and Public Works Department of the City of Zurich. Devanthery/Lamuniere/Marchand association Collaborator: Jean Paul Jaccaud By 2007, the railway area between Zurich Central Station and Langstrasse will have been significantly redeveloped. Further to the failure of several attennpts between 1980 and 2000, the Swiss Railways, the city and the canton of Zurich came together as a work group with a view to organise test planning regarding the future of the site. The project developed in three stages, each proposing a specific interpretation of the relationship between city and greenery, between built and natural features in an urban context, between high and low population density. In treating the railway yard globally, albeit with respect to its specific characteristics, the project rejects the usual urban web of streets and buildings. On the contrary, it aims at matching the immensity and the light of the deserted platforms with the large scale planning of public and private spaces which may just as well accommodate multipurpose extensive buildings as vast areas of greenery. 113.1 Perspective view: park 113.2 Perspective view: developed park 113.3 Models: alternatives in the park 113.4 Perspective view: park area amid built structures 113.5 Model: park area amid built structures 113.6 Four conceptual diagrams

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114. A Retirement Home

Insitute of Technology in Lausanne), Ecublens, VD

Competition, fifth prize, 2004. Mont-Riant, Yverdon, Vaud

This project gives the School of Life Sciences new visibility. The "L" shaped vol-

A solid house with a courtyard, a fagade peppered with coloured concrete blocks, setback and staggered balconies, the effect of a scaleless screen and lattice. Inside, a plain glass skin clings to the curves and encloses a winter garden which allows the building to remain in harmony with the passing seasons.

115. A Daycare Centre

Competition, second prize, 2004. Commune of Bernex, Bernex, Geneva

ume connects the space of the new building to the centre of the campus. The imposing fagade, perpendicular to the East-West axis of the first urbanisation phase of EPFL, draws attention to the Life Sciences building on the esplanade. At any time of the day or night, by its size and the way it projects itself, the fagade forms a screen as well as a unique calling card. At the same time it is a forum welcoming researchers, students and professors. The project proposes a glass entry wall which gives a broad view of life

One-level building with three patios set in

inside the world of research and the flow of

an orchard. The project implied thinking in

scientific information. "Insiders" as well as

terms of a simple building (walls, plate glass

visitors talk, meet, work, drink coffee in a

windows, curved skylights, windows). One

luminous coloured open space as informa-

marvels at the emotion-filled machine

tion or discoveries are projected onto the

capable of producing simple feelings in

glass wall. Once inside, this vast three-

relation to the building's facility to react to

storeyed reception area makes it possible

the climate, to the pitter-patter of the rain,

to situate, from bottom to top, the different

to the heat from the sunshine, to the hues

functional units of the buildings.

and scents from the climbing plants. Nature within nature. 115.1 Fagade 115.2 Plan

The laboratory building provides a "flexible" framework and envelope. The static structure is punctual on a 7.2 m orthogonal basis. This device, as well as the modularity of

116. EPFL School of Life Sciences Restricted tender offer, laureate project, 2005.

156

the fagade, allows great flexibility for inside partitioning. The modular division of the curtain fagade defines, on the one hand, the

Construction: 2006-2007. Ecole polytechnique

size of the laboratories and their installations

federale de Lausanne, EPFL (Swiss Federal

and, on the other hand, a division in two,

on the small non-bearing nnullion, for office

this highly efficient fagade is simple to use

partitioning. Moreover, one or more panels

and is low-tech in all parts.

of the fagade can be dismantled in order to allow future installations from the outside.

116.1 Key plan ^^^^ ^.^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^p^^ egpi^.^de

The window panels open for semi-annual

116.3 "Flexible" framework and envelope

cleaning of the panes. The rhythm, the proportions and the extensive openings improve natural lighting, make it possible to regulate sunshine with slatted blinds and allow ventilation. Where the labs are not provided with air conditioning, night-time cooling is assured by the long vertical shutters protected by a sheathed aluminium plate which circulate air and protect from the rain. One only has to open a window in the evening and to raise or lower a blind - if they are not programmed - to ensure comfort. However,

157

This book follows the publication of FO(U)R EXAMPLE(S) published in 1996 under the aegis of Architekturgalerie Luzern in partnership with Birkhauser Publishers, Basel. It takes up again the principle of the critical essay entrusted to Joseph Abram's care to whonn we express our deep gratitude for his text, which once again stems fronn his sharp and watchful observation which nurtures our own thought and emphasizes its questioning. Dominick Emmenegger marvellously took the design of the book to unexplored territory while always remaining close to our work. Similarly, Fausto Pluchinotta carried on his photographer's work, with a concern for being documentary and, moreover, receptive to atmospheres, which is so characteristic of him. Thanks to our long-lasting and fruitful collaboration, Yves Gigon, for his models, and Guillaume Hannoun, for his computer-generated pictures, can be considered as real partners of our professional network. Several projects are the fruit of a collaboration with Daniel Schlaepfer whose knowing eyes transmit poetics to the play of artificial light on and into built works. Finally, the sociologist Andre Ducret and the artist Paul Viaccoz joined forces with us on numerous projects and helped us give rigour to our interdisciplinary reflection and to its written form. May they all be thanked here for their contribution to this work. Last but not least, we would like to thank our clients, without whose enthusiasm and understanding all this would not have been possible. Illustrations: All photographs are by Fausto Pluchinotta, except from: Yves Andre, pp. 84, 85, 86, 87, 88 et 89 Pierre Boss, pp. 92, 93, 94 et 95 Luc Chessex, pp. 72 et 73 Fondation Braillard Architectes, p. 146 (88.1) Patrick Devanthery, pp. 2 a 8, p. 20 (20 et 21a-b), pp. 161 a 167 Jean Tinguely, Metamatic n°17,1959 / © 2005, ProLitteris Zurich, p. 12 Mark Rothko , Orange and Yellow, 1957, © 2005, Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko / ProLitteris Zurich, p. 16