Image credit: ©Nicolas Delaroche Studio
Event Description
In the village of Vufflens in Switzerland, the municipality decided to densify the local school, adding on the plot a kindergarten.
We proposed to leave the natural ground untouched but to densify in between the existing buildings above an existing construction. This was the starting point of a form finding process with digital tools. The shape of the building that emerged is an optimization of different factors such as natural light, the existing classrooms and the view over the Alps.
To build it up we have chosen a wood timber structure with a strong tectonic expression. Working with a digital workflow permit us to create a soft and precise contour with high end and easy to install details. It was very much like a an IKEA furniture to build.
Timber wood has been locally sourced in the forest owned by the municipality. It is mainly beech and the façade is larch . It has been transformed and carved within a radius of about 10 miles.
The architecture experience is a mix of a digital process of spatial optimization with a strong natural materiality. It shows a path taking the best of the two opposites ; the natural and the digital.
Speaker
Valentin Kunik, Intl. Assoc. AIA, MSc Arch EPF/SIA, Partner, Kunik de Morsier
Moderator: Russell Echols, AIA, NCARB, Past President, AIA Continental Europe
CES: 1 LU/ HSW for AIA Members
Speaker Bio
image credit: ©Nicolas Haeni
Valentin Kuník is a Swiss architect, born in 1983. He grew up in the canton of Vaud and studied architecture in Lausanne Switzerland, where he obtained his Masters and Minor degrees from EPFL in 2009. He currently teaches construction at HEPIA in the Master's programme in Geneva Switzerland.
Moderator: Russ Echols is an architect, educator, AIA architect member and NCARB record holder who has practiced architecture worldwide over the past 30 years. With licenses in 39 states and 5 provinces of Canada, Mr. Echols has practiced in America, Canada, Asia and Europe for Fortune 100 companies and the US Government.
Mr. Echols is a graduate of the Texas A&M University College of Architecture where he earned his Master of Architecture degree in 1982. Mr. Echols joined the Texas A&M faculty of Civil Engineering in 1982 before starting professional practice in architecture in 1991.
Mr. Echols served as the 2023 President for AIA Continental Europe and joined the NCARB advisor team in 2021.
He currently resides in Germany.
