Fall:
In Service Of:
2026
The Architecture of Construction
EPFL Design Studio BA5, MA1
Course Number AR-301(ah), AR-401(ah)
“Each small moment of convenience – be it answering a question, turning on a light, or playing a song – requires a vast planetary network, fueled by the extraction of non-renewable materials, labor, and data”
Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler, “Anatomy of an AI System: The Amazon Echo as an Anatomical Map of Human Labor, Data and Planetary Resources,” AI Now Institute and Share Lab, September 7, 2018, https://anatomyof.ai/.
On May 27, 2010, EPFL President Patrick Aebischer, Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter, and Pritzker Prize winner architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa (SAANA), inaugurated the Rolex Learning Center on campus. Burkhalter declared the building “a new jewel in the crown that Switzerland’s university system represents.” Along these legitimate actors, a constellation of corporate sponsors, Rolex, Logitech, Bouygues Construction, Credit Suisse, Nestlé, Novartis, and SICPA were present to the opening ceremony, alerting to the complex financing scheme the 110 Millions CHF building was relying upon. 4,300 m³ of concrete RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT were poured, supplied by Holcim, from its sites in Morges and Bussigny; the metal partitions were produced by R. Morand & Fils SA, the glass casings by Bodenmann. But beyond its celebration as architectural innovation, the building is also a financial arrangement, a material supply chain, a labor operation, and an identity-building tool, grounded in emerging public-private partnerships and neoliberal schemes of the mid 2000s.
RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT The Rolex Learning Center is just one example of what this research studio is interested in examining, namely architecture and construction as nested systems of material extraction, exploitation, regulatory and governance mechanisms, cultural production, and value generation— that all become the built environment, and the architecture of our lives. Claiming a decidedly architectural approach based on skills unique to our discipline, research methodologies grounded in diagrams and drawing, the studio seeks to unpack, reveal, and communicate the complexity of actors and forces shaping space production and how do they do so—from clients, to funding bodies, banks and real estate developers, RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT material manufacturers and extraction sites, norm-writing institutions, to architecture firms and structural engineering companies, BET, governance and permit-emitting bureaux, contractors and construction companies, labor force and subcontracting chains, unions and insurances companies, to property-managing firms and cleaning bodies, users and communities, and demolition and waste management firms.
It should culminate in a collective visual: a large-scale fresco that synthesizes the political economy of construction in Switzerland into a single drawing.
We are interested in disentangling architecture and its expression, RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT the construction industry, material economies, and various forms of value from land to culture. We will openly discuss the extractive systems— the racialisation of labour and ecological harm for instance, upon which our discipline relies and trace this through several case studies. We will design narratives to explain the research “‘looking sideways’ in the archive for archival silences (Christiansë), and the possibilities inherent in poetics, rumours (Baderoon), drawing (Loewenson) and performing (Koleka).” 1
We will deploy our abilities as architects to conduct scientific research, justify findings, communicate ideas and concepts, articulate these through texts and diagrams, centering drawing techniques and methods to disentangle, critique and transmit the political economy that underpins our discipline.
[1.] Race, space and architecture: towards an open-access curriculum, Tayob, Huda and Hall, Suzanne (2019) Race, space and architecture: towards an open-access curriculum. London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Sociology, London, UK.
[2.] NB: This is an experimental research-design studio RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT we hope to set the path for an innovative format where drawing research gets the full credits it deserves. Through a comprehensive exploration of the forces (economic, financial, legal, technological, material) that mandate, produce, control, and profit architecture and construction, we seek to expose how, why, and by whom architecture is made and unmade. We will investigate built works as case studies, unwrapping their genealogies, redrawing spatialities, tracing capital flows and actor networks from initial commission through motivations, financing, acquiring permissions, to design, construction, and operation. Our research will be grounded in actual sites and projects in Switzerland, as we seek to mobilize our context.
The studio also engages with critical readings on political economy, extractivism, construction labor, material supply chains, financial instruments, and regulatory frameworks—and other connected topics dear to the RIOT lab such as class, race and gender. These readings serve as analytical lenses to understand the complexities we encounter. Collective research works (mappings, diagrams, timelines) emerge towards a representational outcome of what was uncovered.
The goal is potentially, toward the end of the semester, to identify leverage points—namely where one could act or design intervention to alleviate the status quo. Because the studio conducts self-critical reflection on architecture's attachment to solutionism and building-as-default, we acknowledge the limitations and complicity of architectural practice within extractive systems. By focusing on understanding systems subtending individual buildings, this studio hopes to articulate an agenda for architectural research that acknowledges the complexity of construction, values and materiality and critique the political economy of space.
[3.] Image Source:
Burgerbibliothek Bern. The Skeleton of the Parliament Building in Bern: The Dome Still Without Cladding. Topping-Out Ceremony on April 11, 1900. Photograph. Photographer unknown. April 11, 1900. Accessed July 9, 2026. https://www.espazium.ch/de/aktuelles/da-capo-fuer-hans-wilhelm-auer-bundeshausarchitekt
[4.] Teaching Team: Charlotte Malterre-Barthes, Antoine Iweins, Nathalie Marj; Student Assistants: Lydia Genecand, Clémence Quenis
Fall:
In Service Of:
2026
The Architecture of Construction
EPFL Design Studio BA5, MA1
Course Number AR-301(ah), AR-401(ah)
“Each small moment of convenience – be it answering a question, turning on a light, or playing a song – requires a vast planetary network, fueled by the extraction of non-renewable materials, labor, and data”
Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler, “Anatomy of an AI System: The Amazon Echo as an Anatomical Map of Human Labor, Data and Planetary Resources,” AI Now Institute and Share Lab, September 7, 2018, https://anatomyof.ai/.
On May 27, 2010, EPFL President Patrick Aebischer, Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter, and Pritzker Prize winner architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa (SAANA), inaugurated the Rolex Learning Center on campus. Burkhalter declared the building “a new jewel in the crown that Switzerland’s university system represents.” Along these legitimate actors, a constellation of corporate sponsors, Rolex, Logitech, Bouygues Construction, Credit Suisse, Nestlé, Novartis, and SICPA were present to the opening ceremony, alerting to the complex financing scheme the 110 Millions CHF building was relying upon. 4,300 m³ of concrete RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT were poured, supplied by Holcim, from its sites in Morges and Bussigny; the metal partitions were produced by R. Morand & Fils SA, the glass casings by Bodenmann. But beyond its celebration as architectural innovation, the building is also a financial arrangement, a material supply chain, a labor operation, and an identity-building tool, grounded in emerging public-private partnerships and neoliberal schemes of the mid 2000s.
RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT The Rolex Learning Center is just one example of what this research studio is interested in examining, namely architecture and construction as nested systems of material extraction, exploitation, regulatory and governance mechanisms, cultural production, and value generation— that all become the built environment, and the architecture of our lives. Claiming a decidedly architectural approach based on skills unique to our discipline, research methodologies grounded in diagrams and drawing, the studio seeks to unpack, reveal, and communicate the complexity of actors and forces shaping space production and how do they do so—from clients, to funding bodies, banks and real estate developers, RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT material manufacturers and extraction sites, norm-writing institutions, to architecture firms and structural engineering companies, BET, governance and permit-emitting bureaux, contractors and construction companies, labor force and subcontracting chains, unions and insurances companies, to property-managing firms and cleaning bodies, users and communities, and demolition and waste management firms.
It should culminate in a collective visual: a large-scale fresco that synthesizes the political economy of construction in Switzerland into a single drawing.
We are interested in disentangling architecture and its expression, RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT the construction industry, material economies, and various forms of value from land to culture. We will openly discuss the extractive systems— the racialisation of labour and ecological harm for instance, upon which our discipline relies and trace this through several case studies. We will design narratives to explain the research “‘looking sideways’ in the archive for archival silences (Christiansë), and the possibilities inherent in poetics, rumours (Baderoon), drawing (Loewenson) and performing (Koleka).” 1
We will deploy our abilities as architects to conduct scientific research, justify findings, communicate ideas and concepts, articulate these through texts and diagrams, centering drawing techniques and methods to disentangle, critique and transmit the political economy that underpins our discipline.
[1.] Race, space and architecture: towards an open-access curriculum, Tayob, Huda and Hall, Suzanne (2019) Race, space and architecture: towards an open-access curriculum. London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Sociology, London, UK.
[2.] NB: This is an experimental research-design studio RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT we hope to set the path for an innovative format where drawing research gets the full credits it deserves. Through a comprehensive exploration of the forces (economic, financial, legal, technological, material) that mandate, produce, control, and profit architecture and construction, we seek to expose how, why, and by whom architecture is made and unmade. We will investigate built works as case studies, unwrapping their genealogies, redrawing spatialities, tracing capital flows and actor networks from initial commission through motivations, financing, acquiring permissions, to design, construction, and operation. Our research will be grounded in actual sites and projects in Switzerland, as we seek to mobilize our context.
The studio also engages with critical readings on political economy, extractivism, construction labor, material supply chains, financial instruments, and regulatory frameworks—and other connected topics dear to the RIOT lab such as class, race and gender. These readings serve as analytical lenses to understand the complexities we encounter. Collective research works (mappings, diagrams, timelines) emerge towards a representational outcome of what was uncovered.
The goal is potentially, toward the end of the semester, to identify leverage points—namely where one could act or design intervention to alleviate the status quo. Because the studio conducts self-critical reflection on architecture's attachment to solutionism and building-as-default, we acknowledge the limitations and complicity of architectural practice within extractive systems. By focusing on understanding systems subtending individual buildings, this studio hopes to articulate an agenda for architectural research that acknowledges the complexity of construction, values and materiality and critique the political economy of space.
[3.] Image Source:
Burgerbibliothek Bern. The Skeleton of the Parliament Building in Bern: The Dome Still Without Cladding. Topping-Out Ceremony on April 11, 1900. Photograph. Photographer unknown. April 11, 1900. Accessed July 9, 2026. https://www.espazium.ch/de/aktuelles/da-capo-fuer-hans-wilhelm-auer-bundeshausarchitekt
[4.] Teaching Team: Charlotte Malterre-Barthes, Antoine Iweins, Nathalie Marj; Student Assistants: Lydia Genecand, Clémence Quenis
BP 3241, Station 16, CH-1015 Lausanne / T: +41 21 693 00 53 / E: riot@epfl.ch / IG: @riot-epfl
© 2026, RIOT EPFL ENAC
BP 3241, Station 16, CH-1015 Lausanne / T: +41 21 693 00 53 / E: riot@epfl.ch / IG: @riot-epfl
© 2026, RIOT EPFL ENAC