Built environment data for research and teaching: reserve documents in the reading room / ACM
Event details
| Date | 21.10.2025 › 22.10.2025 |
| Hour | 09:00 › 17:00 |
| Location | |
| Category | Miscellaneous |
| Event Language | French, English, Italian, Other |
THE ARCHIVES DE LA CONSTRUCTION MODERNE (ACM) FOR YOUR RESEARCH, TEACHING, COURSEWORK AND SEMINARS
The ACM, as the documentary infrastructure of the ENAC Faculty, preserve original materials (historical plans, project and technical files, correspondence, notebooks, notes, expert reports, photographs, models, and other material traces of construction actors) accessible for research, teaching and interdisciplinary projects at EPFL.
Consultation is free of charge and open to everyone, by appointment only*.
1. OPENING HOURS, BOOKING AND ACCESS
2. WHICH DOCUMENTS CAN BE CONSULTED?
3. HOW TO BOOK A VISIT?
Documents can only be consulted by appointment (at least one week in advance)*.
Booking steps:
4. PREPARE YOUR VISIT
5. *WHY IS BOOKING REQUIRED?
6. FIND OUT MORE
7. QUESTIONS?
The ACM, as the documentary infrastructure of the ENAC Faculty, preserve original materials (historical plans, project and technical files, correspondence, notebooks, notes, expert reports, photographs, models, and other material traces of construction actors) accessible for research, teaching and interdisciplinary projects at EPFL.
Consultation is free of charge and open to everyone, by appointment only*.
1. OPENING HOURS, BOOKING AND ACCESS
- Opening hours: Tuesday–Wednesday, 9:00–12:00 and 13:30–17:00, by appointment*
- Book: reserve documents for consultation in the reading room via MorphéBook
- Find us: EPFL, SG Building, 3rd floor
2. WHICH DOCUMENTS CAN BE CONSULTED?
- The archives document the design, decision-making, construction and transformation processes of the built environment in Switzerland and beyond.
- Discover here the fonds and files available for consultation in the reading room.
3. HOW TO BOOK A VISIT?
Documents can only be consulted by appointment (at least one week in advance)*.
Booking steps:
- Select your documents via MorphéBook (up to 10 files/units)
- Choose a visit date (Tuesday or Wednesday, 9:00–12:00 / 13:30–17:00)
- For any questions: [email protected]
4. PREPARE YOUR VISIT
- Find files: where to search?
- Select files: how to choose?
- Understand archival references: what is a call number?
5. *WHY IS BOOKING REQUIRED?
- The documents are stored offsite and must be prepared in advance.
- The one-week delay allows archivists to locate the files, check their physical condition and organise their availability under proper conditions.
- Digitisation is neither systematic nor substitutive and depends on material, legal and environmental criteria. On-site consultation therefore remains the rule.
6. FIND OUT MORE
- Carrying technical, spatial and social data, these documentary collections bear witness to the processes of design, decision-making, production and transformation of the built environment. They cover a wide range of issues: urban dynamics, networks and infrastructures, construction techniques, materials and cycles, social and political conditions of the built environment, planning in urban, peri-urban or mountain areas, representations of territory, climate challenges, and project governance.
- Working with archival sources anchors architectural analysis in concrete, verifiable and historically situated materials, at the crossroads of scientific research and pedagogical experimentation.
7. QUESTIONS?
- Archivists are available (on site or by email) to assist you with your research and help you navigate the available documentation: [email protected]
Links
Practical information
- General public
- Registration required