Normapolis: the HES-SO schools go beyond the norm

SIÈGE HES-SO / PRÉSIDENCE DU COMITÉ DIRECTEUR
COMMUNICATION
RUE DE LA JEUNESSE 1 / CASE POSTALE 452 / 2800 DELÉMONT 1
TÉL. : 032 424 49 00 / FAX 032 424 49 01
[email protected]
WWW.HES-SO.CH
PRESS RELEASE
Delémont, April 17, 2012
Normapolis: the HES-SO schools go beyond the norm
As the Paléo Festival Nyon’s partner in innovation, the University of Applied Sciences HES-SO will again
take part in the event with more than 17 extraordinary – beyond-the-norm – projects. The public will
discover a nomadic city constructed from shipping containers in the large northern sector of the festival
site.
This remarkable laboratory grew out of a workshop during which 50-some students from the Landscape
architecture, Interior architecture, and Civil engineering study courses created a variety of stage design projects.
The one selected for realisation, titled Normapolis, is an ephemeral city that challenges the standardisation of our
society. Normapolis symbolises the HES-SO, which encompasses some 30 000 people (students, professorial
body, and administrative personnel). This nomadic and ephemeral city will be built with about 40 shipping
containers. The HES-SO space will include a large square and two patios around which you’ll find interactive
installations offered by the various departments.
A second workshop at the end of March offered more than 50 people the chance to have their projects assessed
by the expert, sometimes critical, eyes of scenographers. It was the occasion to meet the colleagues from the
other study courses, to discover other ways to work and create – again, a truly interdisciplinary experience. Over
several months, students from 14 HES-SO schools worked on 17 projects that offered full-scale space for
experimentation. They gained the opportunity to put their project management skills into practice and to test their
academic learning in a setting outside of what’s normally available.
The partner schools in this project are: Haute école du paysage, d’ingénierie et d’architecture de Genève hepia –
Haute école d’art et de design Genève HEAD – Haute école de santé de Genève – Haute école de travail social
Genève – Ecole d’ingénieurs et d’architectes de Fribourg EIA-FR – Haute école de santé Fribourg – HES-SO
Valais Wallis, Economie & Services et Santé – Haute Ecole d'Ingénierie et de Gestion du Canton de Vaud HEIG-VD –
Haute école de travail social et de la santé EESP Lausanne – Haute Ecole de Santé Vaud HESAV – Ecole
d’ingénieurs de Changins EIC – Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne EHL.
The University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland HES-SO is the second largest university in Switzerland,
17 200 students at 27 schools in seven cantons. With academic teaching geared towards professional practice, it
is active in six fields of study, namely Design and Visual Arts – Business, Management and Services –
Engineering and Architecture – Music and Theatre – Health – Social Work.
For more information: www.hes-so.ch/paleo
Contacts:
Marc-André Berclaz – President of the Board of Directors HES-SO – + 41 32 424 49 30 – [email protected]
Laurent Essig – Head of HES-SO projects – +41 79 671 46 84 – [email protected]
Marianne Tellenbach – Head of Communications HES-SO – +41 79 541 66 70 – [email protected]