EPFL architecture students publish their designs in print

A page from The Real Book. ALICE / EPFL2020 - EPFL's first-year architecture students usually have the chance to build full-scale versions of their designs. But this year's cohort will instead publish a book featuring blueprints for structures along the banks of the Rhône and Arve rivers in Geneva - For first-year architecture students at EPFL, the 2019-2020 academic year has offered a salutary lesson in one of the key challenges they can expect to face in their future careers: adapting to circumstances beyond their control. At the end of each academic year, EPFL students traditionally team up to build a wooden structure (see links below). This year's cohort was planning to work on two sites in Geneva's Jonction district: one on the bank of the Rhône (dubbed "The Mangrove" by the teachers), and a second by the Arve (named "The Galpon" after the nearby theater). Working with Geneva's utility company (SIG) and Geneva Canton, the students were supposed to be helping the site managers devise ways to unlock the district's full potential. But when the COVID-19 crisis struck, the up-and-coming architects had to abandon their plans to build wooden models and life-size structures, settling instead for digital versions of their designs (see this article , published on 8 April 2020).