Architecture as an evocative interplay of different factors: three projects by the Swiss firm Farra Zoumboulakis & Associés Architectes Urbanistes

For several years, Farra Zoumboulakis & Associés Architectes Urbanistes of Lausanne, Switzerland, have deliberately based their work on three key French terms: milieu (environment), lien (connection) and lieu (location). Taking three signature designs as examples-an ensemble of five apartment buildings in Lausanne-Provence for environment, the Renens train station for connection, and an eco-neighborhood in Nyon for site-they now reflect on their work as architects and urban designers and situate it in a larger context.

For the first-ever book on their work, the architects have also invited experts from other fields such as philosophy, biology, or art, to address the concepts of milieu, lien and lieu from different perspectives than their own. In this way they create interconnections between different aspects of human activity, whose common point of reference is the architecture that houses them.

Farra Zoumboulakis & Associés Architectes Urbanistes, who celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2020, have made a name for themselves with their innovative urban planning and architecture in francophone Switzerland, from major refurbishments to housing designs and public buildings.