Rolex Learning Center by SANAA in Lausanne, Switzerland
Rolex Learning Center by SANAA
Recently Complete in February 22, this Rolex Learning Center was designed by SANAA Architecture. One aspect of the Rolex Learning Center which sets it apart from other horizontal buildings punctuated by round or elliptical courtyards (see Burr Elementary School by SOM) is the building section, the way the slice of cheese undulates along the ground’s flat plane. In a sense the building becomes the landscape; instead of cutting and filling the earth to provide access underneath, the building rises and falls to accomplish the same.
Rolex Learning Center in Lausanne Switzerland
The program of the Learning Center currently includes a scientific library with study areas, the CRAFT Laboratory, a research center for EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) and the Rolex Forum an ampitheater with stage for 600 people, and dining spaces. With these aims and programming, it sounds like the only spaces open to the public are the exterior spaces under the building and within the courtyard. If this is the case, the undulations seem justified. Without them the student and research facility would be a walled-off, impenetrable mass.
Rolex Learning Center by SANAA in Lausanne Switzerland
SANAA for Rolex Learning Center
Tags: CRAFT Laboratory, elliptical courtyards, horizontal buildings, research center for EPFL, research facility, Rolex Learning Center, SANAA, scientific library
