This building designed by the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma invites visitors to explore the relationship between science and culture in three themed spaces.
Called the Artlab, this innovative project aims to create a link between the arts, culture, science and technologies. Firstly, it is home to the Montreux Jazz Café where visitors can explore the musical archives of the famous festival. The EPFL is indeed currently undertaking the digitisation and conservation of this documentary heritage, listed in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register. The second space is dedicated to museum-based experimentation where the EPFL laboratories and resulting start-ups devote their research and technologies to innovative approaches. For example, until 23 April, visitors can explore how light interacts with the black monochromes of the French painter Pierre Soulages.
Finally, the Data Square spotlights two of the EPFL’s big scientific projects on the theme of big data: the Blue Brain Project, a computerised reconstruction of part of a rat’s brain tissue, and Venice Time Machine, a historical and geographical simulation of the city. ArtLab was officially opened at the beginning of November 2016 with Patrick Aebischer, former president of the EPFL, and the federal councillor Alain Berset in attendance.
