Fabulous New Rolex Learning Center in Lausanne Switzerland Opens

Learned about the February 22 opening of the new “EPFL” Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne here in Book Patrol, and researched further to find the website, here.

Light is brought in through the Swiss-cheese holes in the roof, and the pristine whiteness of the concrete surfaces creates a snowy plane, airy, bright, and infinite. The result is a communal space without fixed function. A softly curvy, feminine expanse without hierarchies or straight lines. A series of calm and silent connected spaces created to nurture collaboration, communication, and cooperation over competition. Library, offices, restaurants, and auditoriums are harmoniously linked between a cloud-like canopy above, and a floor that gently rises and falls like a living organism as it inhales and exhales. “Human movements are not linear like in a train, but curve in a more organic way,” said architect Ryue Nishizawa, one-half of the Japanese architectural team SANAA, explaining his vision. “With straight lines we only create crossroads, but with curves we can create more diverse interactions.”