Claudia Rebeca Binder SignerClaudia R. Binder, a Swiss, Canadian and Colombian citizen, was born in Montreal and spent most of her childhood in Switzerland and Colombia. She studied at ETH Zurich from 1985 to 1996, earning a degree in biochemistry and then a PhD in environmental sciences. After conducting her post-doctoral research at the University of Maryland in the US from 1996 to 1998, she returned to Switzerland and took a position as a senior research scientist at ETH Zurich, studying the interaction between human and environmental systems at the Institute for Natural and Social Science Interface. In 2006, Binder joined the University of Zurich as an assistant professor in the Department of Geography, and in 2009 moved to the University of Graz in Austria where she served as a full professor of systems science. In 2011, she took a position at the University of Munich’s Department of Geography as a full professor of human-environment relations.
Binder joined EPFL in March 2016 and set up the Laboratory for Human-Environment Relations in Urban Systems (HERUS) at ENAC; she also holds the La Mobilière Chair on Urban Ecology and Sustainable Living.
Her research involves analyzing, modelling and assessing the transition of urban systems towards sustainability. She looks in particular at how we can better understand the dynamics of urban metabolism, what characterizes a sustainable city, and what drives and hinders transformation processes. She does so by combining knowledge from social, natural and data science. Her research focuses on food, energy, and sustainable living and transport in urban systems.
In Switzerland, Binder was appointed to the Research Council, Programs Division of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) in 2016 and serves on the Steering Committee of the SNSF’s National Research Program 71, “Managing Energy Consumption” and the Swiss Competence Centers for Energy Research (SCCER). She is also a member of the Steering Board on Sustainability Research for the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences. In 2019, she was elected as a member of the University Council of the University of Munich (LMU).
At EPFL, Binder is the academic director of Design Together, a cross-disciplinary teaching initiative. She was appointed to the management team of the Energy Center in 2018 and as head of the working group on EPFL’s energy and sustainability strategy in 2019.
Harry GuggerHarry Gugger started his professional career as a toolmakers apprentice from 1973 to 1977. From 1984 to 1989 he studied architecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ) with Flora Ruchat and at Columbia University, New York with Tadao Ando. He received his degree in architecture at ETH Zurich in 1990. In the same year he began his collaboration with Herzog & de Meuron (HdeM) when he was their assistant at the summer school in Karlsruhe. From 1991 to 2009 he was a partner of the firm. During his partnership Harry Gugger was, among many other projects, in charge of Tate Modern in London (1995-2000); the Headquaters for Prada USA in New York (2000-2002) and the Schaulager Basel for the Laurenz Foundation (1998-2003). His last projects at HdeM included CaixaForum, Madrid (20012008), Tate Modern Extension, London (2004- ) and KMOMA, The Kolkata Museum of Modern Art, Kolkata (2008- ). The Laban Dance Centre in London (1998-2003) was awarded the RIBA Stirling Prize 2003. In 2004 Harry Gugger received the Swiss Art Award Prix Meret Oppenheim.
His academic career started as visiting professor at the Hochschule für Architektur und Bauwesen in Weimar in 1994. From 2000-2006 he was an External Examiner at the AA School of Architecture in London. In 2001 he was a visiting professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). 2005 Harry Gugger became full professor for architectural design at the EPFL, where he founded the Laboratory for Architectural Production (lapa). His laboratory was in charge of the National Participation of Bahrain Reclaim at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2010 winning the Golden Lion award. In 2011 Harry Gugger transformed his laboratory into Laboratoire Bâle (laba) a satellite laboratory of the EPFL situated in Basel and dedicated to urban and architectural design.
From 1999-2007 Harry Gugger was a member of the cityscape commission in Basel and was on the board of trustees of the Swiss Architecture Museum from 2004-2007. 2010 he became a member of the board of trustees of the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction. The same year he founded his new practice Harry Gugger Studio.
Gloria Serra CochGlòria Serra Coch is an architect by the Polytechnique School of Catalonia (UPC), Architecture School of Barcelona. During her studies and after graduation, she assisted the research team Architecture, Energy and Environment (AiEM), exploring methods of integrating renewable energies in cities as well as finding ways of measuring the impact of urban morphology in energetic parameters.In 2017, she obtained la Caixa Fellowship for Postgraduate Studies to pursue a MS. in Urban Planning at Columbia University, New York. She graduated with a concentration in Urban Analytics and won the Planning Practice Thesis Award, for analyzing the impact of mapping in the historical planning of New York City neighborhoods. At Columbia, she assisted researching the effects of mobility networks in social accessibility, using GIS public data to map individual opportunity based on time-space daily constraints.After graduation, she combined professional practice with academics and research. She started working in the Urban Planning team of CallisonRTKL, where she also got involved with the newly created research division and participated in the first Digital Evolution Lab. At the same time, she also assisted, as adjunct professor, a joint architecture-urban planning studio of Columbia University focused on Puerto Rico’s inner connectivity.
Elena Cogato LanzaEDUCATION 2000 PHD ès sciences at the Department of Architecture EPFL Lausanne. (Thesis: L'urbanisme en devenir: réseaux et matériaux de l'aménagement urbain à Genève dans les années trente). 1990 Laurea in Architettura at the Institute of Architecture, University of Venice (Italy). EMPLOYMENT HISTORY 2018 Lecturer at Faculty of Geosciences and Environment, UNIL Lausanne. Since 2007 Maître d’Enseignement et de Recherche at the EPFL, ENAC Faculty, at the Laboratory of Urbanism. 2006 Lecturer at the Institute of Geography, University of Neuchâtel. 2000-2007 Research associate and Lecturer at the EPFL, Department of Architecture. 2001-2009 Associate foreign scientist at LOUEST (Laboratoire Organisations Urbaines: Espaces Sociétés Temporalités, UMR CNRS 2410, France). 2000 Maître de Conférence, Section 24 « Aménagement de l’espace, urbanisme » of the French Council of Universities. 1995-2006 Research associate at the Fondation Braillard Architectes, Geneva. INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSABILITIES Since 2018 Member of the Scientific Committee of the EPFL Research Center HABITAT. Since 2017 Member of the Committee of the Doctoral School EDAR. Since 2017 Member of the Scientific Committe of the CAS Thèmes et Echelles de l’Urbanisme, in the frame of the MAS-Continuing Education in Urbanism, EPFL - University of Geneva. Related to these activities, are other roles in the academy: Member of the Library Commission at the EPFL (since 2013) Member of the Research Commission at the ENAC Faculty (2009-1015), Member and/or President of the PhD final exam and Phd admission exam juries for the Doctoral Schools of University of Venice, KU Leuven, Université de Grenoble, Université de Louvain-La-Neuve and EPFL. APPROVED RESEARCH PROJECTS I have a 20 years of experience in interdisciplinary research projects, involving principally the domains of architecture, landscape, environmental engineers, and sociology. My most important research experience relates to the SNF Sinergia "Post-car world. A trans-disciplinary multi-dimensional Simulation" as Partner Leader (Main Leader: Prof. Jacques Lévy), and as Main Leader of the Sub-Project C: "Urbanity. Configuring a Post-Car world" (2013-2017). Others projects to be mentioned: "Urban gardening and human wellbeing in the greater Lausanne area" (Partner leader; ENAC Exploratory Grant 2016-17) ; "Territory in the Crisis" (Partner leader; Compagnia di San Paolo 2013-15) ; "1 km Well-being. The Urban Landscape Observatory" (Partner leader; Swiss cooperation project in architecture, CEPF and CUS Funding 2009-2011); "Résistance et projet. Du destin des Grottes (1930-2030)" (Partner leader; partnership EPFL and Fondation Braillard Architectes). Currently, I’m co-leading the Joint Project "City and Production in the frame of crisis" (Compagnia di San Paolo and Politecnico di Torino) and leading the research project "Designing an interdisciplinary research and education concept in Ecological Habitat" (ENAC Exploratory Grant). SUPERVISION OF JUNIRO RESEARCHERS AT PHD AND POSTDOC LEVELS Currently, I am super-vising 2 and co-supervising 2 Phd theses, after supervising 2 (end 2017) and co-supervising 2 (end 2017-2018). I supervised 1 Post Doc fellowship (2009). TEACHNING ACTIVITIES I am currently teaching in the following fields: History and Theory of urbanism, Theory of contemporary landscape and urban design, Cultural representation of nature, Interdisciplinary issues in Urban and Land Planning. My present classes at EPFL are: Theories of Urbanism I and II (bachelor); UE J Territory and Landscape (master seminar). After being responsible of interdisciplinary education in ENAC-EPFL (Cours ENAC, 2006-08; ENAC Week, 2004-17), I have been increasingly involved in Post graduate education. Namely, I am member of the Board of the CAS Thèmes et Echelles de l’Urbanisme, in the frame of MAS Continuing Education in Urbanism EPFL-UNIGE (Since 2018), after being co-responsible of PhD class Concepts and Theory 1 (EDAR-EPFL 2014-2017). Recently I chaired the Scientific committee of the Doctoral Seminar Comparing habitat in the frame of swissuniversities (2017) and co-coordinated the International Masterclass Territories in the crisis (EPFL-Polytchnique of Turin-University of Venise, 2016). RECENT MEMBERSHIPS IN PANELS, BOARDS, ETC. AND INDIVIDUAL SCIENTIFIC REVIEWING ACTIVITIES 2019 Member of the Research Commission of the Ecole Nationales Supérieure d'Architecture de Grenoble. 2018 President of the Steering Committee of the international Greater Geneva. 2016 Reviewer for the National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes (Italy), in the frame of the Evaluation of Research Quality for the years 2011-2014. Since 2015 Scientific expert for the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO, Belgium), as reviewer for New research project proposal. 2012-2015 Member of the selection committe for the « Prix Victor and Hélène Barbour » in literary and aesthetical critique, Faculté des Lettres of the University of Geneva. 2011 Scientific expert for the Agence Nationale de Recherche (France), in the frame of the Program Sociétés Innovantes. Innovation, économie, modes de vie. Since 2011 Member of the international scientific committee of the Grand Prix de l’Urbanisme (Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development, France). 2010-2012 Member of the Swiss Committee Europan; President of Scientific Selection committe of Europan 10, Swiss section, Inventer l’urbanité, Concours européen de projets innovants. 2008-2009 Member of the Scientific Committee for the international research-development program « Grand Pari de l’Agglomération Parisienne », French Ministry of Culture and Communication. 2004-2009 Scientific expert for the French Ministry of Culture and Communication (DAPA-BRAUP) in the frame of the interdisciplinary research programs « L’architecture de la grande échelle » and « Art Architecture Paysage ». EDITORIAL BOARDS. Member of the International Editorial Boards of Cahiers de la recherche architecturale, urbaine et paysagère (since 2017), the series Landscripts, Institute of Landscape Architecture, ETHZ-Jovis Publisher, Berlin (since 2012), of the journal Les Carnets du Paysage, Ecole Nationale Supérieure du Paysage, Versailles et Marseille (since 2010). Finally, I am Associate Publisher of the publishing house Metispresses in Geneva and Director of the series “vuesDensemble” and “vuesDensembleEssai” (2008on). ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP IN SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES, FELLOWSHIPS IN RENOWED ACADEMIES Since 2015 President of the Board of the Fondation Braillard Architectes, Geneva; member of the Board since 2010. 2010-2012 Member of the Board of Utopiana, interdisciplinary artistic plateform, Geneva. 2000-2002 Member of the European Association of Urban History. ORGANISED CONFERENCES I have regularly been a member of Scientific Committee of national and international scientific conferences and symposia, such as: International Symposium Brussels Ecosystem (october 2019), International PhD Seminar U&U Urbanism & Urbanisation (XIX-2018, and VIII-2015), Journées Biennales des Géosciences de l’Environnement de l’UNIL (2018), International Symposium Latsis 2015 (2015), and, before, ERAU European Symposium on Research in Architecture, Urban and Landscape Design (2005), and European Association of Urban History (2002 and 2000). PRIZES AND DISTINCTIONS 1991–1992 Swiss confederation Fellowship at the University of Geneva. Grant of the Swiss Confederation – Conseil de l'Europe.
