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How to Craft Your Theoretical Statement,
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EPFL Master Theoretical Statement

“Somebody roll the windows down”

Motion Sickness, Phoebe Bridgers (2017)

“The Master's Project (30 ECTS) is an architecture project carried out by the student or pair independently after validation of the theoretical statement. They choose the members of their supervisory group, the theme, and the site of their study. The supervisory group includes an academic supervisor (SAR-IA professor) and an ENAC professor, at least one of whom is an architect. An EPFL mentor (teacher, assistant, or scientific collaborator under contract) supports the student. The evaluation is carried out by a committee composed of the academic director, another professor, two candidates, and an external expert appointed by the SAR. The mentor may attend the oral examination and, with agreement, the deliberations.” Master, ENAC, Architecture Section. So, if we admit the identity-shattering pos

The thesis/Projet de Master (PDM) is the opportunity for students to articulate a project based on the topic they have researched and developed independently during the theory semester/énoncé théorique.  construction can never be sustainable, how to respond to housing needs? This studio intends to face the music.So, if we  While the thesis is presented as the culmination of architecture studies, at RIOT, we are as interested as much in the process as in the final result. As we manoeuvre rigid institutions and expectations of what qualifies as ‘architecture,’ we seek to accompany those interested in topics close to the lab’s interests and emancipated formats to express and move discourse further. We welcome brave students and those willing to test and push boundaries, as much as we welcome those who have had enough of architecture and wish to move on. We do not believe in suffering as a pedagogy and accompany our thesis students toward completion of their studies in the best conditions possible. 

The spring semester sees students articulate, complete, submit, and defend their thesis. This is a critical period and one where a strong student-advisor relationship is essential. During the semester, students work closely with their pedagogical team— advisors and mentors— to develop a final thesis. Students present their thesis-in-progress in mid-term reviews and defend the final project in a final review in front of peers, external, and faculty. As with the énoncé/theory semester, a good advisor team-advisee relationship is central to successfully completing, defending, and submitting the thesis. Students should meet regularly with their advisor and mentor over the semester. Discussion and receiving feedback are critical to developing a robust thesis. A shared set of expectations with the team about the scope and nature of the thesis will be expected and discussed. Students should stay in contact with other students to share their emerging work and to learn from each other’s successes and struggles. The peer network of fellow thesis students should help to keep students motivated and on track.
So, if we admit the identity-shattering posit that construction can never be sustainable, how to respond to housing needs? This studio intends to face the music.

During the spring semester, mid-term and final reviews will be held, during which students will present their in-progress and final theses for critical feedback. The mid-term is internal and informal, while the final thesis review is a public moment to which a panel of outside critics and EPFL faculty are invited. 

At RIOT, we pay attention to how the work is presented and displayed; we seek to equip students well for the final review—on towards the post-graduation life. We encourage a well-curated presentation of material gathered and created during the semester, assembled in a booklet or a binder, showing the process. We also highly recommend working models, mock-ups, one-to-one tests, material palettes—arranged and included in the presentation. 

 The format of PDM theses varies considerably from student to student. Students are encouraged to consult with their team on an agreed-upon format early in the thesis process. While EPFL has rigid expectations (4 a0s, plans, sections, models), we encourage exploration and are open to various representation formats. Regardless of the ultimate format of the thesis, as a contribution to public knowledge, it must be a rigorous product that can withstand the academic scrutiny of one’s advising team and outside reviewers. o, if we admit the identity-shattering posit that construction can never be sustainable, how to respond t

Master Students 2026

Myriam Alhadeff & Charline Hugues
"Holding Ground: Resistances at the Margins of the Euroméditerranée;" Advisor: Charlotte Malterre-Barthes (RIOT) 
Secondary Advisor: Dieter Dietz (ALICE)
Mentor EPFL: Kathlyn Kao

Julie Bron
"Are Prisons Obsolete?;" Advisor: Charlotte Malterre-Barthes (RIOT) 
Secondary Advisor: Dieter Dietz (ALICE)
Mentor EPFL: Antoine Iweins (RIOT)

Elodie Charrel
"Beyond the Closet: Queering Space as Architectural Subversion;" Advisor: Stefana Parascho (CRL) 
Secondary Advisor: Charlotte Malterre-Barthes (RIOT) 
Mentor EPFL: TBC

Sahar El-Zein
"Reform Carceral Infrastructures to an Architecture of Care: Reclaiming Agency in the Swiss Asylum System;" Advisor: Vincent Kaufmann (LASUR)
Secondary Advisor: Charlotte Malterre-Barthes (RIOT) (Lab-U)
Mentor EPFL: Antoine Iweins (RIOT)

Lydia Genecand
"Fables from the South: Alternative historiographies of colonialism through everyday material culture in post unification Sicily;" Advisor: Charlotte Malterre-Barthes (RIOT)
Secondary Advisor: Dieter Dietz (ALICE)
Mentor EPFL: Akshar Gajjar (THEMA)

Georgia Gollogy
"Taking responsibility for the means and methods?;"Advisor: Charlotte Malterre-Barthes (RIOT) 
Secondary Advisor: Jo Taillieu (LIF) 
Mentor EPFL: Elif Erez (RIOT)

Patrick Grandjean
"Two Farms a Day: Dispossession, Extensification, and Architecture of Swiss Agriculture;" Advisor: Charlotte Malterre-Barthes (RIOT)
Secondary Advisor: Laurin Baumgardt (THEMA)
Mentor EPFL: Julie Riondel (LAB-U)

Nora Guiges
Advisor: Elena Cogato (LAB-U)
Secondary Advisor: Charlotte Malterre-Barthes (RIOT)
Mentor EPFL: Kathlyn Kao (RIOT)

Raúl Ranjit Singh Hansra Sartorius & Victor Kelyr
"Goodbye Museum Au Revoir National Ciao Svizzero Wider Museum;" Advisor: Dieter Dietz (ALICE)
Secondary Advisor: Charlotte Malterre-Barthes (RIOT)
Mentor EPFL: Claire Logoz (ALICE)

Claire Passer & Joseph Maziere
"Come as You Are : A Critical Mapping of Celebration in CH;" Advisor: Charlotte Malterre-Barthes (RIOT)
Secondary Advisor: Dieter Dietz (ALICE) 
Mentor EPFL: Nathalie Marj (RIOT)

Briana Prelicz
"Owned to debt: Infrastructures of Property and the Afterlife of Sttate Mandates in Bucharest;" Advisor: Philippe Thalmann (LEURE)
Secondary Advisor: Charlotte Malterre-Barthes (RIOT)
Mentor EPFL: Kathlyn Kao (RIOT)

Clara Vinet
"PTT Architecture and the Territorial Making of Modern Switzerland;" Advisor: Sarah Nichols (THEMA)
Secondary Advisor: Charlotte Malterre-Barthes (RIOT)
Mentor EPFL: Eva Rouf (THEMA)

[1] Image Source: Warren, Joe. RIOT. Photograph. 5 April 2010. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/warrencat/4620583794/.
[2] Image Source: Phillips, Skin. Don Brown shuts down 405 Freeway, the busiest freeway in the US. Photograph. 21 June 2004. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfzjbs9BuLU&ab_channel=esskateboarding.