First talk: Performance at the service of architecture

To provide building designers with the means to meet both qualitative and quantitative objectives, it is necessary to work at scales ranging from the occupant level to the urban environment. This approach oftentimes requires to build synergies between traditionally distinct domains.

This lecture will explore current research efforts aiming towards a deeper integration of performance considerations in design. Such an integration can happen in a variety of contexts. At the Smart Living Lab, a research and development center dedicated to the future of the built environment, a new building is under development that aims to meet the ambitious environmental performance targets set by the Swiss Energy Strategy for 2050. Novel ideas can also be tested on design-build projects, such as the NeighborHub, developed within the context of the US Solar Decathlon 2017 competition and now used as a research prototype for energy management, while simultaneously serving the local community, acting as a multifunctional gathering place and an information center about sustainable living. On the other hand, natural light greatly impacts how a building is experienced by its occupants. It affects their well-being, notably from their health and biological clock perspectives, but also their perceived visual and thermal comfort, or their emotional response.

If we want to support the design of places of delightful – and daylightful – living, we must bring these multifaceted considerations to become integral drivers of the creative process, and reach out to other fields of research, from chronobiology and neuroscience to psychophysics and computer graphics.

The speaker

Prof. Marilyne Andersen is Full Professor at EPFL and Head of the LIPID Laboratory. With a background in physics, she conducts research on performance as a driver for design, with an emphasis on daylight in buildings. She was a tenure-track professor at MIT from 2004 to 2010, was Dean of ENAC at EPFL from 2013 to 2018, is Academic Director of the Smart Living Lab and co-founder of the consulting startup OCULIGHT dynamics. She is currently Invited Professor at SUTD in Singapore.

Author of over 150 refereed scientific papers with several distinctions, she was the first laureate of the Daylight Research Award in 2016 and led the winning Swiss team for the US Solar Decathlon 2017 competition.

Second talk: Co-constructing urban quality: Swiss experiences

Despite the popular imagery associated with Switzerland, the country is resolutely urban, and increasingly so: each second, an additional square meter of land is being urbanized. In order to preserve the landscape, the environment and the nourishing potential of the agricultural land, the federal land use law has been strongly reinforced in 2014 with the aim of channeling all urban development within the existing urban boundaries.

If the majority of the population can agree on the value of protecting the landscape, and understands, at least from a theoretical point of view, why urban development must be constrained, there is a lack of a shared understanding of what constitutes a quality urban environment. This becomes even more critical as Switzerland is a direct democracy, which puts urban projects at the mercy of being challenged by the general public if they are not considered acceptable.

Convinced of the value of bridging the gap between technical fields, and between the professional expertise and the general population, urbaplan has been experimenting through a range of contexts and projects types with processes that co-construct the multiple definitions of urban quality.

The speaker

Igor Andersen is an urban designer and planner with an expertise that covers the design and implementation of complex urban projects ranging from regional comprehensive plans to detailed studies of neighborhood public spaces. Through his design practice, he approaches projects with a particular emphasis on collaborative design through public and professional participatory processes aiming to build a shared narrative and a broad ownership between partners. They lead to the formalization of ambitious visions that integrate urban design, mobility, landscape and environmental issues.

Prior to joining Urbaplan in 2010, Igor was urban designer at Sasaki associates in Boston and at Calthorpe Associates in Berkeley.