The Rolex Learning Center

The Rolex Learning Center located in Lausanne Switzerland was designed by Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa. Construction on the center began in 2005 and was not completed until 2009. The massive center features a library, a center for language studies, offices, cafeteria, a restaurant and a lobby. Sejima and Nishizawa’s idea behind the unique design was to create a space that featured multiple different indoor/outdoor spaces within one structure. To do so they designed the roof and the floor to have a curving effect, which allowed for seven distinct interior courtyards. By giving the roof and floor an undulating shape it allows for the interior spaces to have an open and varying feel. In addition the Center receives more natural light and better circulation of the learning and office spaces. The design was inspired by pieces of sculpture and is often recognized more as a landscape than an actual building.  From above it is hard to see how the curves of the roof continue down to the ground, but it is very obvious when approaching the building. The Center is accessible on all four sides and was designed so that visitors have to walk under the actual building.

I found it very interesting how Sejima and Nishizawa took a basic square and created a space with continuous movement that engages its visitors from the interior and the exterior. I wanted to reflect the movement and the effect that the courtyards had on the building as a whole.  The model above shows the basic design of the roof and how when layered it creates a space of many levels. I also wanted to look at the light and how when direct sunlight shines through the courtyards it also flows through the entire building. While trying to create the same effect it showed me how each curve had to be particularly executed in order to create a structurally sound building.  I also wanted to show how the building does not sit directly on the ground. The sketches show how the building allows for people to access it by walking under the first floor of the Center. The second sketch shows how the curves of the building correlate to the elevation of the site.