Architects: ALICE Studio Architects
Area: 121 m²
Year: 2016
Photography: Dylan Perrenoud, ALICE EPFL, Alessandra Ortelli, Aloys Mutzenberg
Team Project: Dieter Dietz, Daniel Zamarbide, Raffael Baur, Edouard Cabay, Laurent Chassot, Nicolas Durr, Margherita Del Grosso, Alexa den Hartog Stéphane Grandgirard, Patricia Guaita, Agathe Mignon, Andrea Pellacani, Laura Perez Lupi, Anne-Chantal Rufer, Wynd van der Woude with Thibaud Smith
Lead Engineer Timber Construction: Rémy Meylan / Whood x Mug
City: Lausanne
Country: Switzerland
HOUSE 1, an architectural installation by ALICE Studio in Lausanne, Switzerland, showcases an experimental approach to collaborative design and construction. Completed in 2016, this project involved over 200 students from EPFL, creating a dynamic timber structure that encourages interpretation and interaction.
HOUSE 1, an architectural installation by ALICE (Atelier de la Conception de l’Espace), is an experimental collaborative design and construction project led by Dieter Dietz. This international group includes young architects, researchers, scientists, and doctoral candidates from EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne).
Initially built as a proto-structure during a five-day workshop in April, HOUSE 1 is an 11m x 11m x 11m balloon-frame timber construct, representing the ‘genetic code’ for future developments. The project engaged over 200 students working in groups, supervised by 12 studio directors and wood engineer Rémy Meylan.
Each team designed and realized a ROOM for habitation or a TRANSITIONAL SPACE providing connectivity, such as porches, stairs, or doorways.
The boundaries between studio projects are zones of negotiation over space, culture, and ideas, resulting in a multilayered discourse. HOUSE 1 offers a spatial experience characterized by evolving spaces that invoke questions and possibilities, rather than a homogenous architecture.
Alexa den Hartog, one of the studio directors, describes the proto-structure and inhabitation process as a “restricted physical and temporal landscape that only slowly solidified.” According to Dieter Dietz, HOUSE 1 reveals its final form through shared efforts rather than a top-down approach.
After four months of intensive work and strong engagement, the project is now open to visitors on the EPFL campus, next to the Rolex Learning Center.
Project Gallery
Project Location
Address: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Cantonale Street, Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
Location is for general reference and may represent a city or country, not necessarily a precise address.
