Product of a research cooperation between three Swiss universities - the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne's School of Architecture, the School of Architecture and Technology in Fribourg, and the University of Fribourg - the Smart Living Lab is a research and development centre for the built environment of the future. This high-tech structure also serves as an emblem of the cooperation's aim to translate academic research into actual buildings. A new series of books, entitled Towards 2050 will be showcasing the ambitious undertaking at various stages. Exploring: Research-driven Building Design presents the second phase of research at the Smart Living Lab, which focuses on the various problems that must be solved to satisfy future buildings' sustainability goals. Given that the building sector is one of the world's biggest contributors to CO2 emissions and energy consumption, the research group is seeking strategies to improve energy and carbon performance of the Smart Living Lab, anticipating the expected tight requirements thirty years from now. The book features contributions by Marilyne Andersen and Emmanuel Rey; Anne-Claude Cosandey, Marilyne Andersen, and Emmanuel Rey; Thomas Jusselme; Dominic Villeneuve, Thierry Maeder, Hamed Alavi, Vincent Kaufmann, and Denis Lalanne; Thomas Jusselme, Endrit Hoxha, Cédric Liardet, Himanshu Verma, Derek Christie, Marc Antoine Messer, and Luca Pattaroni; Arianna Brambilla, Cécile Nyffeler, Hugo Gasnier, Jean-Marie Le Tiec, and Arnaud Misse; Didier Vuarnoz, Julien Nembrini, Philippe Couty, and Thibaut Schafer; Florinel Radu; Thomas Jusselme, Endrit Hoxha, Stefano Cozza, Raphaël Tuor, Renato Zülli, Nicolas Henchoz, and Denis Lalanne; and Thomas Jusselme and Didier Vuarnoz. Further volumes in the Towards 2050 series: Thinking: Visions for Architectural Design.

Product of a research cooperation between three Swiss universities - the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne's School of Architecture, the School of Architecture and Technology in Fribourg, and the University of Fribourg - the Smart Living Lab is a research and development centre for the built environment of the future. This high-tech structure also serves as an emblem of the cooperation's aim to translate academic research into actual buildings. A new series of books, entitled Towards 2050 will be showcasing the ambitious undertaking at various stages. The series' inaugural volume, Thinking: Visions for Architectural Design highlights preliminary research for the smart living lab and considers visions for sustainable buildings. The book features essays by Sophie Lufkin, Emilie Nault, MArilyne Andersen, and Emmanuel Rey as well as interviews with leading experts such as Tatiana Bilbao, Paula Cadima, Lionel Devlieger, Herbert Girardet, Alistair Guthrie, Kengo Kuma, Ali Malkawi, Edward Ng, Susan Parnell, Antoine Picon, Carlo Ratti, and Koen Steemers. It lays out the myriad challenges and opportunities the project is likely to face, as well as its considerable potential to drive change.

Utilizing the results of a case study on the Gare-Lac sector in the city of Yverdon-les-Bains - the site is currently a large urban brownfield, intended to host ca. 3,800 additional inhabitants and 1,200 jobs upon completion - this work examines how to design attractive urban neighbourhoods that generate endogenous economic activity and foster socio-cultural dynamics, while moving towards local energy self-sufficiency. Exploring the different dimensions influencing energy self-sufficiency at the neighbourhood scale by integrating parameters related to buildings, infrastructure, mobility, food, goods and services, the work focuses on three scenarios (technological, behavioural and symbiotic) for the future development of this neighbourhood through 2035. The scenarios test different design strategies related to industrial symbioses, production, storage, transportation, and urban agriculture.