The Rolex Learning Center at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland is a public research library and the primary research library of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. It boasts a library with 500,000 printed works, a multimedia library with online journals and e-books, and a study center for postgraduate researchers. There are also ten teaching areas for seminars, group work, and other meetings. There are four larger study areas that can accommodate eight-hundred and sixty students.
With office space for more than a hundred EPFL employees and others, restaurants and cafes, and lovely outdoor spaces, the Rolex Learning Center has become an international cultural hub that's open to both students and the public. The beautiful building was designed by the Japanese architecture firm SANAA. The building's unique features include an organic look with curves and slopes, an impressive concrete surface, artificial geography that defines the space and separates functions, and more. In addition, the center has a tactile floor track to help those with impaired vision as well as accessible ramps, steps, and platform lifts.
The center was designed to encourage collaboration and impromptu gatherings. It features an unobstructed space with no physical boundaries and uses artificial geography to separate different functions. The center was a technical challenge for engineers, who concealed the structural puzzle of the floating complex below ground. Every pane of glass was cut separately to a unique shape and curve. The project was funded by the Swiss government and private donors such as Logitech, Bouygues Construction, Crédit Suisse, Nestlé, Novartis and SICPA. Of course, Rolex also contributed to the funding and thus the center bears the company’s name.
The Rolex Learning Center is a perfect example of internationally collaborative efforts at technology education and cooperative advancement for the common good. Since a great deal of my business comes from trading, buying, and selling pre-owned Rolexes in San Diego, I’m grateful to the commitment the company consistently shows when it comes to philanthropic efforts.
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