Amplifier for Art, Science and Society

Architecture

As EPFL’s new "entrance door" inaugurated in 2016, EPFL Pavilions is the first building dedicated exclusively to a public and cultural program. Almost 250 meters long, its slate roof covers three distinct spaces, all dedicated to the dialogue between science and culture.

The EPFL Pavilions' building and its associated scientific programmes offer several forms of the productive dialogue that science and art can enjoy. The building is designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, winner of the competition launched in 2012.

© EPFL - Alain Herzog

The architect

Kengo Kuma, born in 1954, studied architecture at the University of Tokyo before heading to Columbia University in New York. He founded his Spatial Design Studio in 1987 and Kengo Kuma & Associates (KKAA) in 1990. KKAA now employs over 100 people in Tokyo and more than 20 in Paris. Kuma has taught at Columbia University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Keio University, where he also earned a PhD in architecture in 2008. He is currently a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Architecture where he oversees research projects in the fields of architecture,urban planning and design in his own laboratory, the Kuma Lab.

Kuma aims to revive Japanese architectural traditions and reinterpret them for the 21st century. He takes a scientific approach to materials, using them to instill grace and lightness in his designs. He can make stone seem just as airy as wood or glass.

The place is a result of nature and time. I think my architecture is some kind of frame of nature. With it, we can experience nature more deeply and more intimately. Transparency is a characteristic of Japanese architecture; I try to use light and natural materials to get a new kind of transparency.

Kengo Kuma, Architect

His work includes several museums in Japan and around the world, including the Nezu Museum in Tokyo, the Besançon Art Center and the Regional Contemporary Art Foundation (FRAC) in Marseille, the latter two of which opened in 2013. The EPFL Pavilions building (project name: Under One Roof) is his first project in Switzerland.
Kuma, alongside David Chipperfield, is vice-chair of the architecture-design selection panel for the second phase of the Plateforme 10 museum complex in Lausanne.

Technical data

  • Architect: Kengo Kuma and Associates, Tokyo, Japan
  • Local architect: CCHE Architecture et Design SA, Lausanne
  • General contractor: Marti Construction SA, Lausanne
  • Main construction materials: Slate roof tiles, wood-steel support structures, wood-glass façades
  • Total volume: 17586 m³
  • Net surface area: 3360 m²

Contact

Postal address

EPFL-CDH-EPFL Pavilions
CO 172 – Station 10
1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

+41 21 693 65 01
pavilions@epfl.ch

Team

Sarah Kenderdine

Director and lead curator
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Professor Sarah Kenderdine researches at the forefront of interactive and immersive experiences for galleries, libraries, archives and museums. In widely exhibited installation works, she has amalgamated cultural heritage with new media art practice, particularly in the realms of interactive cinema, augmented reality and embodied narrative.

E-Mail
Website Laboratory for Experimental Museology

Anne-Gaëlle Lardeau

Manager, Operations
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Anne-Gaëlle Lardeau embraced a career in scientific communication after training in Biostatistics (Aix-Marseille Université) and Business Administration at IAE Aix-en-Provence. Since 2000, she has been managing exhibition and public outreach programs in international contexts and well-known organizations such as CERN, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, and the Olympic Museum. She joined EPFL in 2015 to coordinate ArtLab’s launch program and was appointed manager in September 2018.

E-Mail

Marie Carrard

Manager, Exhibitions and Programmes
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Marie Carrard is an experienced museographer and producer of exhibitions involving audiovisual and digital experiences. She created and led the "Museography and Digital Experience" unit of the Point Prod group for 12 years in Geneva. For the last two years, she has been the deputy director of the UN's Portal of Nations project. She started her career managing international projects in TV production, media and communication. She holds a double master’s degree in international economics and politics from Sciences Po Paris.

E-Mail

Alexia Panos

Production Assistant
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After spending several years in Singapore, Alexia Panos returned to Switzerland to pursue her studies in History and Political Science. After a Master's degree in Museum Studies, she started her career at the Olympic Museum were she took part in the making of several exhibitions. Within the Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage, she continued working as project manager on the valorization of the audiovisual archive of the IOC. Since achieving her thesis on the use of augmented reality in the context of historical patrimony, Alexia has been interested in innovative technologies in cultural purposes. She joined the team of EPFL Pavilions in 2022.

E-Mail

Loïc Sutter

Communications Officer
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After studies in visual communication in Geneva, Loïc Sutter has specialised in cultural communication within the teams of the Lausanne Underground Film & Music Festival (LUFF), Visions du Réel and Les Urbaines, as part of the Post Digital Cultures symposium. He has taken part in various artistic and collective projects, driven by a curiosity for experimental, innovative and singular approaches. He has joined the team of EPFL Pavilions as Communication specialist in 2022.

E-Mail

Stéphanie Romon

Administrative assistant
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After an initial few years working in the hotel industry, Stéphanie spent 8 years at IMD Business School as program coordinator and faculty assistant. She began working at EPFL in 2016 in IC and joined Professor Sarah Kenderdine in 2017 within the Laboratory for Experimental Museology. Stéphanie became a member of the EPFL Pavilions team in 2019.

E-Mail

Sophie Bauer

Administrative assistant
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Trained in Molecular Biology at UC Berkeley and with a keen interest in the performing arts and culture, Sophie has used her coordination and administrative skills in the commercial and academic sectors. She joined the ENAC School at EPFL in 2017 as an Administrative Assistant for the Institute of Civil Engineering and started at EPFL Pavilions in June 2021. She is a singer/songwriter in her free time and a certified expert in traditional feng shui.

E-Mail

Ryan Jones

Exhibition Technician
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From Sydney, Australia, with a background in Contemporary Music Performance and Audio Engineering and a passion for technology, Ryan is fascinated at the crossroads where science and art interact to unveil the diverse aspects of both fields.

E-Mail

Jean-Pablo Mühlestein

Exhibition Technician
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A graduate of the Ecole cantonale d'art de Lausanne (ECAL) in Media & Interaction Design, Jean-Pablo specialised at an early stage in technical coordination and scenography, first at the Musée des beaux-arts de La Chaux-de-Fonds, then at institutions such as the Journées photographiques de Bienne, the Quartier Général contemporary art centre, the Musée Suisse du Jeu and Plateforme 10. He joined EPFL Pavilions in 2023, bringing his expertise in contemporary and interactive museography.

E-Mail

Scientific Committee

EPFL Pavilions’ Scientific Committee is a forum for discussion and input into proposed and upcoming programming, educational projects and new initiatives.

Architecture

As EPFL’s new "entrance door" inaugurated in 2016, EPFL Pavilions is the first building dedicated exclusively to a public and cultural program. Almost 250 meters long, its slate roof covers three distinct spaces, all dedicated to the dialogue between science and culture.

The EPFL Pavilions' building and its associated scientific programmes offer several forms of the productive dialogue that science and art can enjoy. The building is designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, winner of the competition launched in 2012.

© EPFL - Alain Herzog

The architect

Kengo Kuma, born in 1954, studied architecture at the University of Tokyo before heading to Columbia University in New York. He founded his Spatial Design Studio in 1987 and Kengo Kuma & Associates (KKAA) in 1990. KKAA now employs over 100 people in Tokyo and more than 20 in Paris. Kuma has taught at Columbia University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Keio University, where he also earned a PhD in architecture in 2008. He is currently a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Architecture where he oversees research projects in the fields of architecture,urban planning and design in his own laboratory, the Kuma Lab.

Kuma aims to revive Japanese architectural traditions and reinterpret them for the 21st century. He takes a scientific approach to materials, using them to instill grace and lightness in his designs. He can make stone seem just as airy as wood or glass.

The place is a result of nature and time. I think my architecture is some kind of frame of nature. With it, we can experience nature more deeply and more intimately. Transparency is a characteristic of Japanese architecture; I try to use light and natural materials to get a new kind of transparency.

Kengo Kuma, Architect

His work includes several museums in Japan and around the world, including the Nezu Museum in Tokyo, the Besançon Art Center and the Regional Contemporary Art Foundation (FRAC) in Marseille, the latter two of which opened in 2013. The EPFL Pavilions building (project name: Under One Roof) is his first project in Switzerland.
Kuma, alongside David Chipperfield, is vice-chair of the architecture-design selection panel for the second phase of the Plateforme 10 museum complex in Lausanne.

Technical data

  • Architect: Kengo Kuma and Associates, Tokyo, Japan
  • Local architect: CCHE Architecture et Design SA, Lausanne
  • General contractor: Marti Construction SA, Lausanne
  • Main construction materials: Slate roof tiles, wood-steel support structures, wood-glass façades
  • Total volume: 17586 m³
  • Net surface area: 3360 m²