Architecture

Valerio Piazza is creating new 3D architectures built from an inventive form of nanowire. His research aims to push the boundaries of miniaturization and pave the way to more powerful electronic devices. He has just won the 2020 Piaget Scientific Award, whose prize money will fund his work at EPFL for a year.

EPFL researchers have built a footbridge prototype using reinforced-concrete blocks from walls of a building being renovated. The blocks were cut into individual pieces on site and assembled into a prestressed arch. This project, which marks the first time concrete has been reused in this way, is part of an initiative to substantially shrink the construction industry’s carbon footprint by adopting a circular economy approach. The footbridge will be inaugurated at a ceremony at the Smart Living Lab in Fribourg on 11 October.

Urban brownfields represent a major challenge to sustainable transition that remains difficult to overcome. A new reference work, based on over ten years of research carried out at EPFL, aims to outline the processes involved in transforming urban brownfields into sustainable neighborhoods. 

What makes a dwelling a place we want to call home? And why do we find it so hard to move, even when downsizing is the logical choice? To answer to these questions, a team of EPFL scientists surveyed 968 tenants in Switzerland.

3D printing can be used to build load-bearing concrete structures that require significantly less material and no steel reinforcement or mortar. ETH architects and engineers from the Block Research Group in collaboration with Zaha Hadid Architects and other partners from industry showed how this works with a footbridge in Venice.