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The 08.04.2025
Mardi
17:30 - 18:30
Free admission
Free
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The energy transition is transforming architecture. The rise of solar energy demands new approaches, requiring architects to balance aesthetics and energy performance. Far from being a disruption, this shift actually continues a historical evolution.Maria Cristina Munari Probst advocates for a holistic approach to solar integration: addressing the transition by adapting new technologies, regulations, and architectural education together. This last point calls for revisiting outdated narratives and shaping a new synthesis.
The lecture is followed by a guided tour of the exhibition Sun Shines on Architecture.
Maria Cristina Munari Probst is an architect, researcher, and lecturer specializing in the architectural integration of solar energy at both building and urban scales. Since 2010, she has led a MAS course at the EPFL School of Architecture, focusing on synthesizing solar performance and architectural quality. Her research aims to balance the spread of renewable energy with the preservation of urban heritage, notably through the LESO-QSV method (Quality-Sensitivity-Visibility) as well as the design of new solar products.
She earned her PhD from EPFL in 2008 and was a key contributor to the IEA Task 41 – Solar Energy and Architecture (2009–2012). Expanding her research to the urban scale, she initiated IEA Task 51 – Solar Energy in Urban Design (2013–2017) and received the Årets Framtidsbyggare – Innovator of the Year award in Sweden in 2016. A graduate of IUAV (Italy) and the University of Bath (UK), she designed one of Switzerland’s first passive houses in 1999 before joining EPFL in 2003. She has also been a visiting professor at IUAV Venice (2015–2018) and HEIA-FR in Switzerland (2019–2021).
Beyond architecture, she pursues an artistic practice. In 2018, she earned a Master’s in Visual Arts from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia and established her studio at the former Perrier chocolate factory in Chavannes-près-Renens.
Lecture organised by ARCHIZOOM at EPFL, as part of the exhibition Sun Shines on Architecture and the Solar Biennale 2