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Lausanne campus

Academic district in Lausanne, Switzerland From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Lausanne campus or Dorigny university campus (French: campus lausannois or campus de Dorigny) is a large area in Switzerland where the University of Lausanne (UNIL), the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and several other institutions are located. It is in Dorigny, towards the west of Lausanne, on the shores of Lake Geneva. The site is about 2.2 kilometres wide[1] and 31,000 people study and work there.[2]

The EPFL, on the west part of the Lausanne campus, on the shore of Lake Geneva
A building of the University of Lausanne, towards the east of the Lausanne campus
The main library of the EPFL, the Learning Center
The campus, seen from the west, before the construction of the Swiss Tech Convention Center
UNIL-EPFL is located in Switzerland
UNIL-EPFL
UNIL-EPFL
Location at Lausanne in Switzerland
The circular "Vortex" building which housed the Olympic village of the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics and is now a student residence

It is served by Lausanne Metro line 1, from four consecutive stations (UNIL-Chamberonne, UNIL-Mouline, UNIL-Sorge and EPFL), and possesses a bicycle sharing system.

History

Aerial view of what was to become the Lausanne campus (1960)

In 1946, the citizens of Lausanne voted against a massive airport project ("aéroport vaudois Lausanne-Écublens") on the site.[3] In 1963, the Canton of Vaud bought the property at Dorigny. At the time, the University of Lausanne had more than forty locations in Lausanne.[3]

The first building to open on the new campus was the Amphipôle,[4] in October 1970. As of 2013, the campus comprised about sixty buildings.[1] The chief architect of the UNIL campus was Guido Cocchi (1928--2010).[3]

EPFL was officially founded on 1 January 1969 following the passage of the "Loi sur les Ecoles Polytechniques Fédérales"/"Law regarding Federal Polytechnic Institutes" in 1968. (Previously, the university was known as Ecole polytechnique de l'Université de Lausanne.) At that time, EPFL started the process of moving its campus from Lausanne to the new site at Ecublens-Dorigny. The first buildings were inaugurated in 1978 and the last to finish the move was the architecture department in 2001.[5]

The campus is mainly located in the municipality of Écublens, but parts of it are in Chavannes-près-Renens and Saint-Sulpice.[6] The campus has its own postal code: 1015 Lausanne.

The campus also features the Napoleon Oak, a magnificent tree which has stood at its current location since 1800. The tree has been subject to extensive whole genome sequencing.[7][8]

Future developments

The Radio télévision suisse announced its plans to move its Lausanne radio offices to a new building on the campus in 2013. Construction started in 2020 and the move is projected to be completed by 2026.[9][10][11]

Institutions

Facilities

  • Catering:
    • Numerous restaurants, cafeterias and food stalls
    • Bars ("Zelig" in the Géopolis and "Satellite" in the CM building)
  • Shopping area "Les Arcades" (at the "EPFL" metro station) includes Migros, Denner and Holy Cow! Gourmet Burger Company.
  • Other shops:
  • Accommodations next to the campus:
    • Some university halls of residence (Atrium, Ochettes and Triaudes) of the Fondation de maisons pour étudiants de Lausanne (FMEL)
    • Hotels (Starling Hotel, Swiss Tech Hotel) and motel (Motel des pierrettes)
  • Others:

Photographs

Other education and research institutions in Lausanne

Notes and references

Bibliography

See also

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