Houses Gardens 21 is an educational architectural project - a collaboration to build a utopia. The project was born at ALICE, the architecture laboratory of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), and developed over three years in various locations in Europe. Its aim is to redefine the architectural profession, its tools and its involvement with society.
Throughout the summer of 2021, four sites in the canton of Geneva will be home to buildings built by first-year architecture students at the EPFL: Genthod, Aigues-Vertes, Vernier and Onex. Installed on four sites in Geneva and prefabricated at La Rasude in Lausanne, the wooden Houses/Gardens each tell a story, while forming an urban stroll between them, to be undertaken by bike or on foot. With these installations, ALICE continues its architectural exploration of Lake Geneva on the theme of gardens, begun in 2019 with a rediscovery of the shores of Evian-les-Bains. By following the axis of the Rhône, the Geneva region has established itself as a new field of experimentation.
