New Learning Center, Institute for Management Development (IMD) Lausanne, Switzerland, 1999–2002

Abstract

The building for the New Learning Center is located at the heart of a growing campus, and strategically articulates between the existing part of the IMD complex to the east and a future extension to the west, poised between the more traditional aspects of the institution and new modes of teaching and learning involving innovative technologies. As IMD students move through a variety of spaces ranging from large auditoriums to smaller rooms dedicated to group work and discussion (and equipped with the latest technological amenities), they are intended to experience learning as a creative process. Another major architectural concern was to subtly integrate the mass of the building with this relatively small and complex site. The three upper levels of the building were elevated above ground level on the sloping hillside site and suspended over the lobby area at ground level. Thus the building appears to “float” above the park, facilitating circulation beneath and through it and preserving the views toward the surroundings and Lake Geneva. The “skin” of the builing was conceived with a related intent, that is, to reflect the sky and the foliage of the trees, and to create the effect of transparency while bringing natural light to interior learning spaces.