EPFL Learning Center – Ecublens, Switzerland - Atlas Obscura
Places near me Random place

AO Edited

EPFL Learning Center

Ecublens, Switzerland

The university library shaped like a giant piece of Swiss cheese. 

View all photos
EPFL Learning Center Bernard Vogel/CC BY-SA 4.0
EPFL Learning Center Bernard Vogel/CC BY-SA 4.0
177
152
Top Places in Switzerland
Aerial view of Sphinx Observatory
Sphinx Observatory
Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland
Museum Stemmler
Schaffhausen, Switzerland
Les Pleureuses
Romont, Switzerland
 See All

From up in the air, Rolex Learning Center looks like a giant slice of Emmentaler cheese, placed on the banks of Lake Leman. Its design is no doubt a play on the clichés associated with the building’s home country.

This unusual building is the centerpiece of the campus of École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), a renowned Swiss university. EPFL is one of two federal technical universities in Switzerland and is the second largest in the country. The Learning Center was constructed between 2007 and 2009, and officially opened in February 2010.

The building is intended to serve as a campus hub and a central library. Inside, the library holds one of the largest collections of scientific works in Europe, with more than 500,000 printed works and tens of thousands of multimedia records. The building was designed by Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, partners of the Tokyo-based SANAA studio. It was partially financed by donations from Rolex, Nestle, Novartis, and other Swiss companies. It has very few physical boundaries, instead using artificial geography and changes in height to delineate different zones within the library.

cheese libraries architectural oddities architecture
Community Contributors
stanestane
Added by
stanestane
wythe
d
Edited by
wythe, dfghjkl
Published
June 9, 2010
Updated
March 11, 2022
Edit this listing
Make an Edit Add Photos
Nearby
'Echodrome'
0.20 miles
Collection de l'Art Brut
2.87 miles
The Births of the Full Moon
3.21 miles
Want to see fewer ads? Become a Member.
Near This Place
'Echodrome'
Lausanne, Switzerland

'Echodrome'

This large sculpture of white plates and forms is actually a huge sound amplifier.
Thinking about houses, 1950. by Wilson Scottie
Lausanne, Switzerland

Collection de l'Art Brut

Artworks by loners, prisoners and the criminally insane.
Golden cobblestones represent children born under a full moon.
Lausanne, Switzerland

The Births of the Full Moon

A constellation of golden cobblestones shows the names of local children born under a full moon.
Lausanne, Switzerland

Palais de Rumine

Florentine Renaissance style building in Switzerland, home to the world's largest taxidermy Great White Shark.
Related Places
Hastings, England

The Piece of Cheese Cottage

This tiny triangular cottage is one of a kind in England, and has housed everything from a watchmaker's studio to coffin storage.
Birmingham, England

Library of Birmingham

The largest public library in the United Kingdom was designed to reflect the industrial and artistic history of the city where it stands.
Neillsville, Wisconsin

World's Fair Wisconsin Pavilion

This odd-shaped relic from the 1964 New York World's Fair found its way back home to Wisconsin.
The tunnel of books.
Yangzhou Shi, China

Yangzhou Zhongshuge

Mirrored floors and arched shelves create the illusion of an infinite tunnel of books.
Appears in 1 List
List

12 Places to See the Work of Women Architects

The only glass ceilings here are to let in the sunlight.
Michelle Cassidy March 28, 2022
In partnership with KAYAK

Plan Your Trip

From Around the Web