Discovery walk

From the trunk of the Napoleonic oak, descend to the stone bench nearby.

Well before the UNIL buildings were constructed in the 1970s, this oak tree was at the heart of the Dorigny estate. It is said to have been planted in 1800, on 12 May, to honour the passage through the area of Napoleon Bonaparte and his 40,000 men on their way to Italy.

Dendrochronological research has made it possible to date the exact year: 1778. It was therefore planted here in 1800, at the age of 22 years.

Trees and, more generally, nature were of great importance in the construction of Unith.

It was the architect Guido Cocchi, considered the father of the campus, who designed the building, which was commissioned in 1983, along with three other colleges.

Largely known as the Banane because of its shape, the building was constructed to take account of the surrounding nature and topography. The building backs onto a moraine deposited by the Rhone glacier more than 15,000 years ago.

It nestles at the foot of the crown of trees located on this moraine, following its rounded course.

With Unith, the architects were pioneers in combining food for the mind and food for the body in a single building, something that was rare in such an era.

The architects were pioneers in combining food for the mind and food for the body in a single building, something that was rare in such an era.

Today, the campus boasts the largest library on campus, with 860 workstations, a médiathèque, its main restaurant and a caféria with microwave facilities.

A library extension is planned for 2025. The future free access will make it possible to offer nearly 2,000 workplaces. The number of places in the cafétéria will increase from 1’100 à 1’400.

The Unicentre, which follows on from the Unith, is home to UNIL's management. The building houses the Registration and Enrolment Service (SII), the Social Affairs and Student Mobility Service (SII) and the Student Mobility Service (SII). (SOC), and the careers and guidance service (SOC).

From this bench, climb up the pebbled track, then continue straight ahead into the undergrowth.
At the crossroads, turn right onto the unsurfaced track.
At the greenhouses, turn right along the first path into the wood.
Follow this path to the Belvédère de Dorigny, where you will find an obelisk, ancient lime trees and wooden benches.

The 90-hectare campus is divided into five distinct sectors.
From this vantage point with its beautiful views of the lake and mountains, you can see two of them: in the foreground, the Quartier Centre with the Unithèque, and in the distance, following the avenue of plane trees, the Quartier Lac with its sports fields.

The other three areas are hidden by trees or contours. On the left is the Quartier Chamberonne with the Anthropole and Internef, while on the right, a little further up, is the Quartier Sorge, situated on a flat area, with the Amphipôle in particular.
Behind you at the foot of the hill is the Mouline Quarter: La Ferme de la Mouline and its annex, the IDHEAP and the gleaming Géopolis.

In just over 40 years, some twenty buildings have been constructed. 
The road network was designed to run mainly outside the campus. Within these different districts, nature is very much present, with woods, meadows, lawns, majestic trees, orchards, streams and so on.

Then go left to head between the Grange de Dorigny (with its imposing roof) and the Ferme de Dorigny (with its red shutters).
At the barns, turn right and follow the signs to the right. When you reach the buildings, turn right onto the terrace of the farmhouse.
Then turn left onto the terrace of the farmhouse. Take the left-hand path along the river, then the right. On your right is a house with a white façade, the Château de Dorigny.

The de Loys family acquired the Dorigny estate in the 17th century.
After setting up a small industrial activity (paper mill, forge, laundry, etc.), Etienne-François-Louis was responsible for building the Château de Dorigny in the 1770s. Once the building work was completed, the castle was inhabited by this family. Rural customs were important, as the estate's main function was agricultural. Jean-Samuel, Etienne's nephew, carried out a number of agronomic experiments there from the early 19th century, notably on fallow land and crop rotation.

The current Ferme and Grange de Dorigny were built during the 19th century, following a fire that devastated the old farmhouses.
The last farmhouses were built in the 19th century. The last descendant of the Loys family to live in the Chateau, Marguerite left in 1910. Following this, the house was rented out, notably to the family of Prince Aga Khan. It is said that his son Ali spent his holidays there in the early 1950s with his wife, the famous actress Rita Hayworth. Fact or fiction? The fact remains that their daughter Yasmine was born in December 1949 in Lausanne.

Continue along the path, then turn left to cross the wooden bridge.

On your left is the Anthropole, a building made up of juxtaposed lozenges. This configuration made it possible to create skylights and numerous façades to encourage natural lighting. The building, inaugurated in 1987, is designed as a sort of city, with a main axis running diagonally through it and passing through communal areas with shops (stationery shop, hairdresser, grocery shop, the Troc-o-Pole, a space for exchanging objects run by the FAE).

It houses the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies (FTSR) and part of the Faculty of Business Studies (HEC). The building also houses a self-managed cafeteria, student association headquarters, a Postomat, etc. A large cafeteria is located on the lower floor.

The Internef is on your right behind the sequoia. Inaugurated in 1977, it houses the Faculty of Law, Criminal Sciences and Public Administration (FDCA) and the HEC Faculty. The building houses a library with workstations, a cafeteria, a ‘Time OUT’ student lounge and a bank. The building includes five auditoriums and large interior spaces designed to encourage meetings and exchanges between users.

At the top of the hill, at the end of the road, continue straight ahead along the metro track. The path then begins to descend on the left (steps). At the end of the path, go right along the wide driveway that passes under the railway tracks and then begins to climb. At the top of this climb, you will find a path that leads you to the top of the hill. At the top of this ascent, you will see the Géopolis on the right, the Cantonal Archives on the left and a little further on the same side the IDHEAP.

These two buildings of different sizes were built on a former industrial estate.With its original facade, the Géopolis was designed to be a flagship building, representative of UNIL, and at the same time a functional building for its users. Inaugurated in 2013, the building houses the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (SSP) and the Faculty of Science and Environment (FGSE).There is a restaurant, a cafe, a library and Zelig, a bar run by a student association.

Commissioned in 2010, the IDHEAP (Institut des hautes études en administration publique) building has the particularity of having a patio, where pine trees in the making grow. A pleasant well of light in a building that also has a small cafe.

At the next junction, turn right. At the next junction turn left, then cross the railway line and the road at the pedestrian crossing.
Take a right along the road, then a left after 50 metres, just after the road bridge over the river, to enter the wood.

Here you are at the confluence of two rivers: the Mèbre (completely to the left) and the Sorge (ahead of you). Downstream, the river is called the Chamberonne and flows through the campus to the lake. The Mèbre is a river that rises in the Jorat woods, flows through Cheseaux and then on to Crissier and Renens, after winding its way through some surprising gorges.

The Sorge also rises close to the lake. The Sorge also rises near Cheseaux, passes near Villars-Ste-Croix, then Crissier and Ecublens. Near its source, it is known as the Chamberonne!

Immediately turn right up the Sorge, a river which you cross a little further on via a footbridge.
Then climb up the main forest path, which begins at a staircase.
At the top of the path, at the junction on the flat, turn right to reach the edge of the wood.
Turn right onto the path, which immediately bends to the left and runs alongside a wooden building.
Further on, this path begins to descend.
At the bottom of the descent, turn left up the narrow path that runs alongside a large building.
Follow this winding path.
At the end of the path, you will see several buildings.

On your left is the Biophore, a building inaugurated in 1983 and currently used by the Faculty of Biology and Medicine. Here you will find a number of laboratories where you can meet exotic ants and carnivorous plants, for example. On your right is the Amphipôle, the first university building to be inaugurated in Dorigny in 1970. It has 4 auditoriums with 300 seats each (a novelty at the time). The building also houses the Éprouvette, a public laboratory, and the Anthropos Café, a multi-faceted meeting place.

In the extension of the building, the Amphimax, opened in 2004, has a large auditorium with almost 900 seats. The tiered and concentric structure of the old auditoriums has been abandoned thanks to the projection of course material on a large virtual blackboard. This makes the space more modular and allows it to be easily split into two auditoriums. The building also houses a restaurant-cafeteria and a kiosk.

At the end of this path, turn left to go straight ahead to the Napoleon oak tree.
But before you do, look out for other campus buildings in the distance.
To see them in their entirety, simply walk out onto the grassy area behind the avenue of trees.

In front of you in the foreground is the Génopode (1991), home to the Integrative Genomics Centre and the Swiss Bioinformatics Institute, and in the background the Batochime (1994). In addition to a cafeteria, the building houses the Institut de police scientifique and the Institut de criminologie et de droit pénal, as well as EPFL students.

While two of the building's three chimneys are used for ventilation, the third houses a training facility. Here, real crime scenes are reconstructed in order to put into practice knowledge that was previously purely theoretical.

The last building, the Cubotron, is hidden behind the tallest plane trees. Although it is located on UNIL territory, it also houses sections of the EPFL.