ARC-HEST Architecture for Human Environment with Smart Technologies

Open to 30 students from 6 universities in Switzerland and South Korea, the second edition of the ARC-HEST programme will analyze the synergy of architectural design, human factors, and technologies in the office buildings and their combined effect on the indoor environmental quality. The topic of Summer comfort will be investigated from 22 August to 1st September 2022 in Fribourg and the topic of Winter comfort will be studied in Seoul from 6 to17 February 2023.

The strong traditions, use of advanced technologies and direction towards a sustainable society, that Switzerland and South Korea share, pave the way to the international cooperation ARC-HEST between two countries to raise awareness about urbanism and related social issues and facilitate solutions inspired by different cultures and policies. Through the collaborative work of Swiss and Korean academicians and students from different disciplines, the program aims to comprehensively study the working environment in each country in conjunction with the local culture and architecture

The essential part of programme is the visit of 3 case study buildings by students and the analysis of the current state of the building design, operation, indoor comfort, occupant’s satisfaction, and behavior by different student groups. The main task of the student groups is to design a building assessment method, and to collect, process, and evaluate data from the existing buildings. Based on the findings, the groups will need to develop innovative solutions for the improvement of the built indoor environment, the satisfaction of the occupants with the building, and human-building interaction in the context of the diversity of occupants and architectural design across Switzerland and South Korea.

With the support of the Science and Technology Office Seoul, the Smart Living Lab and its three Swiss partner institutions (EPFL, School of Architecture and Engineering of Fribourg, and University of Fribourg) founded the academic exchange programme on the issue of sustainability and comfort of the built environment, together with the SungKyunKwan, EWHA, and Hanyang Universities from South Korea. The ARC-HEST programme was first launched with a Summer School in August 2019 in Seoul, South Korea and was followed by a Winter School in Fribourg in February 2020.