UNIL chronicles and other anecdotes

In 1890, the Lausanne Academy was transformed into a university thanks to Gabriel de Rumine's bequest and the creation of the Faculty of Medicine. Until then, future doctors were trained in Bern from the second year onwards. However, anatomy has been part of the curriculum at Lausanne since 1882. At that time, the medical school occupied the former customs building between Rue Martheray and Rue Caroline, the site of today's Bibliothèque pour tous.

Edouard Bugnion, from the great family of bankers who owned the Hermitage, taught veterinary art in Zurich. He was the first holder of the chair of anatomy and directed dissection work there.

Our photo shows a dissection in Lausanne around 1890. But taking a closer look, a few things stand out. Why the Gothic windows and climbing flowers? What is a Renaissance chest doing in such a space? Why is the dead man stretched out on a tablecloth-covered coffee table, cushions replacing the traditional wooden block designed to support the back of the neck?

It was a student hoax, a photo staged by a group of students, including Henri Vuillet on the left, who was to succeed César Roux as professor of surgery. The second is Eugene Olivier, a medical historian, grandnephew of Juste Olivier and brother of Franck, the Latinist. The corpse is Fernand Paccaud, a student who had an eventful career in Egypt and died in the 1940s. The backdrop is a painted canvas, traditional of the photographic studios of the period.

No textiles, cushions or tablecloths in the dissection rooms for hygienic reasons. On the other hand, there are skulls and skeletons. And in particular that of the "cache-sexe" foetus that appears on the actual dissection photos of the époque.

Olivier Robert

The striking thing about this large wall at the Anthropole (formerly BFSH 2) is this isolated tag. The photo was generally taken after the University's 450th anniversary in 1987.

At the start of this academic year, the press conference organised by the Rectorate brought journalists together to uncover the almost forgotten corpse of Benito Mussolini, who in 1937 was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Lausanne, among 50 others. The explosive "Mussolini File", forgotten for more than 10 years in the home of a history professor, miraculously reappeared, and the Rectorate decided to publish its full contents in order to calm things down and make it clear that the University had nothing to hide.

The University of Lausanne's "Mussolini File", which had been forgotten for more than 10 years in the home of a history professor, reappeared miraculously, and the Rectorate decided to publish its full contents in order to calm things down and make it clear that the University had nothing to hide.

The University of Lausanne's "Mussolini File", which had been forgotten for more than 10 years in the home of a history professor, reappeared miraculously.

The insipid breath was taken away when the documents were published, and the ceremony unfolded in a very academic manner. Asked to withdraw its title from the Italian dictator, the institution courageously asserted that it was not rewriting history but trying to understand it. A few months later, maintenance staff at UNIL were astonished to see an incongruous and isolated tag: "Espace Mussolini", with the two Ss recalling a certain German tradition of "poque".

Those who pass through Dorigny may be surprised to see that the walls of the buildings are blank, unlike some foreign universities. When an artist expresses himself on a wall, his work is masked, as can be seen by examining the illegible marks surrounding the drawing at eye level. Our photo is almost a snapshot, for the tag disappeared within hours and the purity of the raw concrete reclaimed its rights.

In May 1997, during the demonstrations linked to the Orchydée measures, which morally shook the University; and physically shook State Councillor Jean-Jacques Schwab, the éInstead of defacing the walls, the students demonstrate in the buildings with megaphones and banners made of spray-painted cloth, which they respectfully attach to the walls using bodybuilder's tape. Tagging is not part of Lausanne's student tradition.

Olivier Robert

With the creation of the University in 1890, the position of professor was considered prestigious. This enabled the State to pay them a relatively modest salary of around 4,000 francs a year (around 40,000 francs today).

Law professors are often the first to be appointed by the State.

Law and medicine professors supplement their income through private clients. But a professor of theology doesn't have one. So teachers teach until they die. The nagging question of pension funds was not resolved until after the Second World War, and the AVS did not come into operation until 1948.

Whether by choice or obligation, Henri Vuilleumier's 54 years as a professor beat all records for professorial longevity. A pastor at L'Etivaz, then a teacher of history at the cantonal gymnasium, Vuilleumer was appointed to the chair of Old Testament and ecclesiastical history at the Académie in 1869. The family had eleven children, including a doctor, a pastor, a lawyer and a chemist. The family lived in an attractive house on the rue du Midi in the centre of Lausanne, beneath what is now the Conservatoire de musique. The photo shows the family in front of the house. Sitting on the floor is Henri, the youngest son, who would go on to a successful career as a doctor in Bex.

The father is unable to provide for his family on his salary, and the small car brought as a dowry by his wife, the daughter of the notary Gaulis, is not enough. Louise's health was frail and she could not cope alone with the obligations of her large family. In the photo, she looks as if she's already grown old, even though she's only in her fifties. Nevertheless, she opened a boarding house to make ends meet. It was widely used in the English-speaking world and gave students a chance to solve the thorny problem of housing.

Louise's mother, who had been living in a boarding house for many years, was the first to open a boarding house.

Louise looked after her children until they were of age and her pension until her death in 1909. Henri outlived her by 16 years and left the Bibliothèque cantonale a magnificent collection of 800 works of théology.

Olivier Robert

Who still knows today that sport at the University existed long before the lakeside sports halls were built?

Students take part in sport at university, but not just any sport: horse riding, fencing, rowing. Some might assume that elite sports are privileged. No boxing, football, wrestling or jiu-jitsu, all of which are taken up by the working classes. No shooting either, despite the fact that, since the Middle Ages, many communes in the canton of Vaud have had shooting societies named after abbeys, such as the Abbaye de l'Arc in Lausanne, which dates back to the end of the 17th century.

The abbey was founded in 1835, and is still in existence today.

In 1835 the Société de gymnastique was founded à Lausanne. It was reserved for students. In 1845, three young people were refused admission because they were not enrolled at the Academy. At that time, the latter offered the students free tuition at the Delisle Manor and Mr Finlay's Gymnastics School, under the conditions laid down by the Conseil de l'Instruction publique.

At the end of the 19th century, a number of young people were refused admission to the Academy.

At the end of the 19th century, the University maintained links with a number of sports halls. And, in 1896, it had a nautical club, affiliated to the Rowing club, which practised "bateau à oars", meaning rowing. In 1919, UNIL organised its first cross-country race. The following year, the sixth university sports championships, organised in Lausanne, saw local students win the football tournament. The Rectorat donates 100 francs (currently around 500 francs) to the organisers as a gesture of support.

Marginal and fairly minor at first, sport gradually made its mark and became a more democratic part of academic life. The construction of Dorigny, at the time when the Loi fédérale encouraging gymnastics and sports came into force (1972), ensured an exponential growth in physical activities. Sport became a university discipline. In forty years the number of disciplines offered to the academic community tripled, reaching more than 100 in 2013.

Olivier Robert

Rodolphe A. Reiss, head of photography at the University of Lausanne from 1898, obtained the creation of the Institut de police scientifique in 1909. The University of Lausanne thus became the first university in the world to provide university-level training in the new field of "forensic sciences".

The "Institute of Forensic Sciences" was founded in 1909.

In 1954, the IPSC became the "Institut de police scientifique et de criminologie" (Institute of Forensic Science and Criminology) and was entrusted with numerous expert appraisals in Switzerland and abroad, particularly in connection with court cases.

Between 1969 and 1970, Professor Jacques Mathyer, then director of the IPSC, was entrusted with the appraisal of two drafts of American banknotes: his task was to assess the two proposed models (photos) in terms of general security.

From the expert appraisal, it emerged not only that these designs offer a high degree of protection against counterfeiting and falsification, but also that, since they have a typically American character, they will certainly be readily adopted by the public.

As we can see, the 1 dollar note bears the effigy of Edison; and less than six years after his assassination, it is John Fitzgerald Kennedy who is represented on the 20 dollar note. By way of comparison, it took almost 50 years for Lincoln to appear on an American banknote...

That said, and despite the enthusiastic expertise of the director of the IPSC, the project will never see the light of day. However, it is a safe bet that a portrait of Kennedy would have made a more lasting impression than that of Andrew Jackson, the obscure seventh President of the United States, currently featured on the 20-dollar note.

Sacha Auderset

In the midst of a variety of advertisements, the Guide de l’étudiant contains numerous statements extolling the benefits of tobacco on student life. This was at the beginning of the 20th century. The Guide was a compendium of useful information for students, sometimes in the form of advertisements. Many shops, hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, sports centres and bookshops have offers aimed at young students.

The place of smoking and advertising in universities: two issues that over time have become the subject of debate.

In 1921, the fourth cover of the Guide de l’étudiant reads: "Students! To rest your minds during the “academic quarterémique” have in your pocket a boxîte of Philippossian & Cie, Berne".

In 1924, Nestor cigarettes went one step further: "Cigarettes made from pure oriental tobaccos have a salutary effect on brain functions. The new “Nestor-Réclame” […] must êer;be the loyal friend of the étudiant".

These advertisements then have a prime position as far as visibility is concerned.

Less than a century later, in 2005, UNIL became smoke-free. Ashtrays are now located on the outside of buildings. To mark this change in practice, a conference was organised, inviting Professors Jacques Cornuz, head of the tobacco consultation at the CHUV's PMU, and Jacques Besson, who was to become head of the CHUV's Community Psychiatry Department and an addiction specialist. The discourse on tobacco has changed radically: cigarettes are no longer welcome.

But what about on campus? In the December 2013 issue of l’Auditoire, Lausanne's student newspaper, an English student who had come to Lausanne to study for her degree testifies: "No one was expecting to read about the sport and smoking paradox that seems to be at the heart of student life at UNIL. Cigarette vending machines are éparpillared;in the most accessible corners of the campus, frequented by athletes, all dressed up to take part in the Lausanne Marathon!"

The annual Student Guide is now free of advertising. Smoking is commonly regarded as unhealthy both on campus and in society. However, in both cases, the situation is not so clear-cut. University funding and invitations to (cigarette) consumption are still relevant issues, subject to debate.

Marie-Pierre Bigler

Before the Rectorate moved to Dorigny, a small, strangely dressed man walked the streets of the capital of Vaud. This is how Roger Domenjoz (1922-2011), the last usher at the University of Lausanne, is portrayed on a video set in the labyrinthine world of the Archives of the University of Lausanne. That's right! The University of Lausanne had its own bailiff, which in a way equated the Rector with a State Councillor.

Roger Domenjoz honourably fulfilled his duties at the University for more than twenty years until 1987. At the start of his career, the Dorigny Campus had not yet been built and the University of Lausanne was scattered across several dozen buildings in the city of Lausanne.

What functions does a bailiff perform? The term "bailiff" refers to the person who opens and closes doors. Roger Domenjoz was responsible for welcoming and receiving visitors, as well as distributing internal mail and copies of the University's main publications. He was responsible for printing and distributing degrees and for keeping a record of the institution's graduates in a ledger. He also worked as publications manager, administering and classifying the University's publications. Dressed in civilian clothes at work, he only changed back into his uniform for official events, including the Dies Academicus and the Sénat universitaire séances.

It was the law of 1916 that provided the Université with an usher. At the time, he wore a simple black coat and a bicorne. It was Edouard Mauris, rector from 1966 to 1968, who got him to wear the uniform of the bailiffs of the State of Vaud: a water-green frock coat, a two-tone white and dark green coat and a black cockade.

When Roger Domenjoz retired, his position, which at the time seemed slightly anachronistic, was partially taken over by a secretary, Arlette Curty, who never wore the uniform. When she left a few years later, the University definitively abandoned the function of usher. The attributes of the rectoral authority were henceforth retained - the chain and the silver mace (sceptre).

It was on an ironic note that Roger Domenjoz remonstrated about the difficulty he was proving during official events. His position required him to stand and remain motionless for hours on end while the rector and his guests made their speeches.

Andrea Vovola, Olivier Robert

What was there before Macs? Today, InternetUNIL makes many computers available éparpillés just about everywhere on campus. They appeared gradually from 2000 onwards.

Before that, the University of Lausanne had already shown a great interest in public terminals. So in 1996 it set up Cybcérone, with a team of researchers at the cutting edge of innovation. At a time when information technology was the talk of the town, the installation of this innovative interactive terminal at Dorigny gave us the opportunity to take a step forward;The installation of this innovative interactive kiosk at Dorigny gives the University the opportunity to be invited as host to the «Computer» computer show at the Palais de Beaulieu.

What was so exceptional about this terminal? The short video above, shot at the time of its installation, explains how it worked.

Cybcérone was innovative thanks to its ease of use, particularly with its touch screen. In 1996, this new technology attracted a great deal of attention, and it was easy to imagine that such an innovation would attract so much interest. However, if you look at the images in the video, you can see that Cybcérone is still a long way from iPhones. The terminal is actually equipped with a mouse, and only a few buttons are touch-sensitive. All other operations, such as keyword searches for example, have to be done manually, by inserting the letters one by one and selecting them with the mouse.

But the kiosk does offer a great deal of functionality.

But the terminal offers many other possibilities. It is equipped with a telephone and can be fitted with a printer. Enthusiasm is therefore high, and even if the terminal is not yet ready for printing, the PrintUNIL service will be created shortly afterwards.

However, it's not all these little details that have made Cybcérone so interesting. The real innovation lies beneath the terminal: an internet connection. This is the first time that a kiosk of this kind has made it possible, thanks to the internet, to update information in real time. A real change for university life on the Campus, as the video shows with this concrete example: the terminal displays the next departures of the TSOL, the current M1.

The home page of the UNIL website in 1997 is available on the net archives site.

Marek Chojecki

After the Second World War, a number of European universities decided to accept American students through the Veterans Administration. The University of Lausanne welcomed its first students in 1946. During the winter semester of 1946-1947, the American students, who were keen on university sports, asked Chancellor Bonnard to provide them with the equipment they needed for skiing. The Veterans Administration was supposed to provide the sum of $500 per student to cover the cost of equipment for the proper functioning of the studies.

This letter is part of the Chancellor Bonnard's letter to the students.

This letter forms part of the correspondence between the Chancellor of the University of Lausanne, the Veterans Administration and the American Consulate in Geneva.

Faced with a slow and tortuous administration, the University of Lausanne has found itself in a somewhat embarrassing situation. After paying for the sports equipment for the students, the Veterans Administration was very late in letting us know that it would not be paying for the sports equipment;it would not cover the cost of purchasing ski equipment, deeming it not necessary for the smooth running of studies. This document, dated June 1947, clearly shows how aggressively the Chancellor tried to obtain answers from the Veteran Administration. After a number of rash exchanges, neither party wanted to pay for the equipment. Invoices or IOUs are therefore sent to the students who, often returning to the United States, will pay them off more or less quickly.

Stéphane Neri

On 11 February 1941, an order issued by the Federal Department of Public Economy required Swiss students to perform agricultural service. The old order of 1939, which exempted students from this work, has been repealed. Swiss agriculture was expanding rapidly and needed extra labour. So Lausanne university students set off for the countryside. In collaboration with the War Office for Industry and Labour, the Rectorate of the University was mandated to enlist the young students through public information sessions, such as the one featured on the poster below.

The Rectorate of the University was mandated to enlist the young students through public information sessions, such as the one featured on the poster below.

Betting on an out-of-town university? It must have seemed a prudent choice in the eyes of the authorities after the events of May 68, but in the early 1970s it overlooked a crucial point: how to get there. And for good reason: access to the campus has been complicated ever since it was built, with far too few buses forcing many students to hitchhike. This is certainly an inventive and crazy way of getting to class, but not a very practical one in the long term.

If, following the crisis of the 1970s, many projects had been abandoned, particularly in the field of public transport, a sense of frustration soon set in. On 19 January 1983, fed up with the dwindling number of buses leaving at eight o'clock or midday to get to campus, a large number of Lausanne residents demonstrated in the city centre to protest against the lack of transport: a rapid improvement in transport (within months, says one leaflet) is essential for students, teachers and residents of western Lausanne. Not caring what the police authorised in December– a demonstration only in the pedestrian streets– the défilé, coming from Chauderon, crosses allègrement the place Bel-Air to join, probably, the place St-François.

Messages such as "we don't have the ticket" and "no work, no sleep, no money" describe the obstacle course that the long journey to Dorigny represents. In a good-natured atmosphere, the presence of a âne in some of the photos mocks the slowness of the means of transport «offered» to reach the campus, while the well-known adage and oxymoron «hâte lentement», written on a banner at the back of a bus, humorously reflects the absurd difficulty of getting to the university campus. Was this a wink to the famous society game or the legendary Swiss slowness?

It wasn't until 1991 that the long-awaited TSOL (Tramways du Sud-Ouest lausannois) line was inaugurated, linking the city centre and Renens via the Dorigny university campus. While nostalgia for the old buses may initially affect some students, the TSOL, renamed «M1», will ultimately benefit everyone by reducing the journey time from the city centre to Dorigny to ten minutes. It will also contribute to the expansion of the campus and facilitate access between the University of Lausanne and EPFL.

Emma Paccaud

The establishment of cafés at the University of Lausanne dates back to 1954, when the institution was still located in the city, with the creation of the Foyer-Restaurant Universitaire (FRU) in Place de la Barre. This initiative was the brainchild of the rector of the university, Marcel Bridel, who was keen to provide less expensive meals to the poorest students. Later, to accompany the construction of the modern Amphip campus on the new Dorigny site (1969-1970), a canteen was set up in a hut to feed the site workers. Then, in 1977, a dining hall was built at the same time as its host building, the Internef.

It wasn't until 1982 that the "cafet de la banane", an institution known to every good student in Lausanne, was created, and very quickly found itself besieged at lunchtime by hordes of hungry young people. Just as it is today, the space is made up of a brasserie and a canteen; however, if you look at the photo opposite (from the 1990s), the sharp eye of someone who is used to the place today will immediately notice a change: the white barrier, isolating the dining room from the rest of the room. This fence, topped by a sign warning anyone to identify themselves, is the obligatory passage for students wishing to eat. After their identity cards and meal vouchers have been checked, students are seated at tables according to their order of arrival; a single menu is then served per table.

This system is based on the same principle as the one used for the other.

This system, which was somewhat disappointing due to its lack of choice both in terms of food and seating arrangements, was gradually abandoned, giving way in the early 2000s to the self-service system we know today. Today's range of vegetarian, Asian and Oriental dishes would therefore have been a real luxury for the student of the 1980s.

It's a library!... It's a BRA!... It’s a Banana!... What am I saying, it’s a Banana?... It's a Unith!

How do we find each other on campus? This is a question that every newcomer to the University of Lausanne must ask themselves. To help its students, UNIL organises welcome days that provide the information they need to find their way around, usually through lectures or introductory films.

A welcome day is a great way to get to know the university and its students better.

A sequel to a 1999 film seeks to show the diversity and broad dimensions of the campus. It also tackles the problems of the bâtiments' appointments à l’époque. Between the BSP, BCH, BFSH, BRA, etc., the narrator introduces us to these magical names in an incomprehensible accumulation. Originally, they were shelters used by the architects on the Dorigny building site: BFSH for the building of the humanities faculties, BSP for the building of the physical sciences, and so on. Faced with these acronyms, which are abstruse to the uninitiated, the video puts its finger on the problem that students encounter on their first day at UNIL, forced to ambulate around the site like the clown in the film on his roller skates.

In 2004, the School of Pharmacy left for Genève and the pharmacy bâtiment (BEP) welcomed new disciplines. A deliveryman asking for the pharmacy is sent to the end of the lake, when he is simply looking for the pharmacy college. The university decided to rename the faculties. A competition was launched in the university community. Many ideas were put forward: names linked to the shape of the buildings, names of planes, mountains, utopias, countries and Nobel Prize winners.

Finally, the Rectorat chose catchwords to replace the site names: BRA becomes Unicentre, BFSH 1 Anthropole, CP Amphipôle, etc… The BC, which had very long been nicknamed «la Banane» à because of its shape and light colour, takes the name Unithèque, without however losing its popular nickname.

Marek Chojecki

The issue of animal experimentation is not new! And, like many Swiss institutions involved in research, the University of Lausanne has not been spared. A look back at some of the facts.

The collective imagination often conjures up images of experiments on large animals. However, this practice has not been practised for at least 20 years. Back in the 1980s, following a wave of press articles, the cantonal authorities ordered the discontinuation of experiments on cats at the University. However, it wasn't until 1996 that this provision actually came into force: following a petition, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and the cantonal veterinary surgeon announced the definitive closure of the cat pet shop.

At the end of the year, the University of Geneva's cat show was closed.

In early 2000, the issue of pet shops in Lausanne made a comeback in the press. It was a question of the central animal house that the university wanted to build in order to conduct research into genetics. From an expert point of view, this was considered to be essential for the smooth running of the research, and one of the issues most often raised by the opposition was that of waste and the lack of collaboration between existing laboratories. At the same time, the EPFL, the CHUV and the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC) also had plans to build or renovate animal facilities. While the Conseil d’Etat finally decided to offer the crédit à l’Université for the animal house in 2004, this decision was submitted à referendum in 2005 and rejected by popular vote.

And now? In 2004, a network of local pet shops was set up. An agreement was signed in 2009, bringing together the animal centres of UNIL, EPF, CHUV and Hospices, UNIGE and HUG. ResAL aims to provide researchers with optimal animal experimentation facilities in terms of quantity, quality, proximity and cost.

At a legal level, without dwelling on the details, it should be noted that Swiss legislation authorises animal experimentation only under very strict conditions, in particular only if it is completely impossible to use alternative methods.

Matilde Correia

1 - Fischer, Bertrand. 2000. « Le spectre de la vivisection resurgit en Suisse romande », in Le Matin, 4 November 2000

How compassionate and serene this majestic Christ looks, carrying in his mandorla the Bible of wisdom and the heaps of fertility. The original can be admired, empty-handed, dominating the painted portal of Lausanne Cathedral. The UNIL made it its official seal in 1937 to mark its 400th anniversary.

At the same time, the UNIL made it its official seal in 1937 to mark its 400th anniversary.

A closer look at the reproduction, which dates from 1987, will leave the Latinist in a state of horror. Academia should be Academiae. Sigillum Academiae lausannensis: the seal of the Lausanne Academy. By the way: why Academiae and not Universitatis? In 1987, when this phrase was inscribed, it had been almost a century since the académie had been transformed into a university.

Replacing the seal à two lions, the Christ-like figure appears a little everywhere, seal à and logo à at the same time. It is on the entrance paper, on the diplomas and on the pediment of the University. The text, in Latin, reads: Sigillum Universitatis Lausoniensis. In 1937, the name Universität Lausoniensis was used. 50 years later, Lausoniensis would become the subject of expert debate. On the basis of inscriptions found in Vidy, it would become Lausannensis.

Unbelievable!

The mistakes made by the seal are not to be taken lightly.

The errors in the seal corrected, it was used less and less, apart from certain publications and the rector's silver chain, displayed at official ceremonies.

The 450th anniversary in 1987 coincided with the introduction of a genuine communications policy. For the first time, UNIL called on professionals. The opportunity was taken to create a real logo, which was the subject of a competition. It was won by graphic designer Pierre Bataillard, who represented the bridge between the past and the future, linking the Cité Dorigny, the Cathédrale and the Anthropole (BFSH2 in French). This festive logo was replaced two years later by another, also designed by Atelier Bataillard, which remained in force for 16 years. Thanks to the progress of micro-computing, it easily made its mark on business papers. And for the same reason, the temptation for units to make their own was strong. The number of logos multiplied until 2005, when 80 different ones could be identified. Partly under the influence of the rankings, the Rectorat decided to give a new coherence to institutional communications. From now on, the University will use a single logo in principle.

The circle has been completed and UNIL is back to a situation comparable to that before the 450th anniversary, with a true graphic identity for the entire institution.

Olivier Robert

The first harvest took place on 30 September 1994. A competition was held to decide which label would adorn the bottles. The winning entry was by Stéphane Haeffliger, a former assistant in the Press Office, and Axel Broquet, head of the Press Office.

Since the competition was open to all, it was a great way to find out which label would adorn the bottles.

Because the vines are not planted in a wine-growing area, UNIL does not have the right to sell the fruit of the harvest. The bottles are mainly consumed at ap’ritifs or given as gifts.

Romain Clément

The Dorigny campus is a museum that ignores itself. Let's leave aside the anthropomorphic wolves and other reliefs from the Triennale: it's the permanent collection we're talking about here. The site is teeming with works that are visible, less visible and even hidden. A series of paintings and drawings, part of the Collection de l’Art Brut, belong to the latter category: to admire them, aesthetes will have to go to the basement of the Cubotron. Fortunately, the exhibition continues in the cafétéria de l’Unithèque, côté restaurant, where three other large canvases« raw » are on display.

 At the Dorigny Museum, there are also œuvres that we no longer notice – à by dint of having them in front of us. Since 1979, a sum equivalent to 1% of the construction budget for state-subsidised buildings has been earmarked for artistic activities. Generally designed to blend in with the architecture, these works are part of the landscape. At the Batochime, for example, the artists used the walls directly as their canvas. The result? A wall covered in strange signs, borrowed from the alchemical tradition and organised hierarchically from bottom to top, from Materia prima (base matter) to Aurum (gold).

At the Anthropolis, the artistic intervention is even more extreme, covering the entire building. Inside, the work takes the form of long lines of ceramic inlaid into the walls, in different colours, symbolising the various faculties that occupied the building when it was first built in 1987. The exterior façades are not to be outdone: they feature métalic motifs, « méandres » – according to the authorised terminology – which are an integral part of the work.

 But the productions subsidised by the « pour-cent culturel » are not only visual : in 2013, à on the occasion of the inauguration of Géopolis, a musical œuvre was created. Entitled « Géodes », this piece by Guy-François Leuenberger can be heard on Youtube.

Paintings or sculptures, displayed on the walls of auditoriums or in front of buildings, the other œuvres crées with the help of the « pour-cent culturel » are more easily identifiable. It's up to you to find it!

Sacha Auderset

Guido Cocchi, chief architect of the Dorigny university site, formulated the twofold mission of the building he had built between 1979 and 1982 as follows: to nourish the minds and bodies of the students. His nickname of "Banana" outlives his original name of "Central Building", and will no doubt continue to do so in the future; It was designed to house greedy brains and hungry stomachs under one roof. Today, however, its few hundred seats are struggling to keep up with the thousands of appétits that flock there every day.

Before the &laash;was built, it was designed to be a one-stop shop for eager brains and hungry stomachs.

Before the Banane, before Dorigny, students used to eat at the Foyer-restaurant universitaire (FRU). The FRU took up residence in 1955 at no. 1 rue de la Barre (the current site of the Bellini restaurant), a stone's throw from the Ancienne Académie, the Palais de Rumine and the School of Chemistry. On the ground floor, a restaurant offered meals at a modest price (in 1961, the dish of the day was 1 fr. 90, and dishes were 1 fr.); at the time, students could get bored in the Green Room, a smoking room, or in the reading room.

At the time, students could get bored in the Green Room, a smoking room, or in the reading room.

In February 1964, the French-language Swiss television programme Carrefour devoted part of its report to the FRU (vid;o) and, as you can see, the problem of lack of space was very much in the news. At the FRU, a thousand meals are served every day, and the restaurant seats one hundred. Taking into account the rota, which allocates thirty generous minutes for students to eat, a quick calculation leads us to conclude that it takes… five hours to serve everyone.

In order to avoid such a situation, the university and cantonal authorities have recently ratified a project to extend the building. By 2019, the cafétéria is set to increase its capacity by ten per cent – that's great. We can only agree with the journalist who, at another point in the mission, says in a voice-over: "This will cover essential and immediate needs, but we have to think about the future, and you can never think about the future too early.

Sacha Auderset

On Thursday 21 July 1977, representatives of the Vaud administration, the CHUV, private industry and the press were invited to the presentation of the new IT network at Unil. The institution is delighted to present its latest acquisition: a set of 4 Norsk computers operating as a network, just like the one that controlled the new particle accelerator that had just been installed at Cern.

The history of computing at universities began in 1958, when the Institut d'Informatique Appliquée, following a prospective mission to Cambridge, acquired a ZEBRA. This machine, which runs on perforated ribbons and has no screen, still has to be programmed in machine language, with no translation code between the user and the computer. This was followed, in 1964, by the creation of the Computing Centre within Epul.

This unit, which is based at Epul, was set up in 1964.

This unit came under federal control in 1969, when EPFL was created. Unil then depended on its neighbour to carry out its calculations. To remedy this unsatisfactory situation, in 1973 the rectorate entrusted the task of developing the University's own IT project to the young professor Pierre Bonzon. The chosen solution, described as "very modern and ambitious" by an external expert from the EPFZ, involved networking the Norsk with the University's own IT systems;seau le Norsk avec les calculateurs de l’EPFL et de l’Etat de Vaud, afin d’offrir aux utilisateurs un syst&eme dème dé et flexible.

This great advance on the IT continent is, however, encountering some resistance. The Faculty of Science, from which the Computing Centre came, is very concerned about respecting the division of fields agreed with the EPFL, which has the exclusive right to teach computer science. Added to this was a quarrel between pure mathematics and the new discipline, which resulted in a certain mistrust, at times downright hostility, on the part of the proponents of the former towards the latter.

The new discipline, which was to be taught at the EPFL, was also to be taught at the EPFL.

From 1978 onwards, computer science found a home at the Ecole des HEC. The school was responsible for its development during the 1980s, and was a pioneer in Switzerland, giving students access to a computer room very early on to learn about the new electronic mysteries. It was also within this framework that the first administrative use of IT within the University saw the light of day, in the form of a file of students, quickly used for the management of marks.

Sylvain Praz

A big thank you to Professor Pierre Bonzon for his help in drafting this article.

What is this tidy group of calm, smiling young people? Why are they demonstrating? What are their demands?

Since the Académie de Lausanne became a university in 1890, the number of students has grown steadily, from 200 enrolled in 1890 to 3,520 in 1962. The consequence of this increase is clear: the Cités premises are saturated. Auditoriums, libraries and laboratories, university dining halls (FRU) and accommodation: all of them are overwhelmed by the ever-increasing numbers of students. As a result of a general feeling of discontent, the students decided to take action on 10 May 1963, against the advice of the rector, by organising a demonstration. Their main demands concerned the development of the university, but also the introduction of study grants and more effective health insurance.

As the video illustrates, the procession of some 2,000 students marching in quiet, orderly rows follows a route starting from Place de la Riponne and taking in the main thoroughfares of Lausanne city centre. Everything went off without a hitch and in perfect order," said a journalist from the Nouvelle revue de Lausanne the day after the march. Through the astonishing tranquillity of the demonstration, the students succeeded in their aim: to attract the attention of passers-by and convey to the people of Lausanne their demand for much-needed university development.

The Vaud authorities, who had been aware of these problems for a long time, finally took action a few months after the student protest. In October 1963, the Conseil d’État set up a Commission to study the development of the University. The first building on the new Dorigny campus, the Amphipôle, was completed for the start of the academic year in October 1970. The process of expanding the Université de Lausanne was underway.

Parallel to the images in the film, the video shows images of Lausanne that contrast with the current state of affairs. The Place de la Riponne, now an entirely pedestrianised area, is a vast open-air car park; the underground car park was built in 1972, while on the Grand-Pont, the rails visible on the pavement are a reminder of the tramway that was taken out of service the following year, in 1964. Behind the demonstrators, you can also see the front of Cineac, the famous cinema that opened in 1946 on the corner of Rue du Grand-Chircuit and Rue du Grand-Pont. The screening room, which showed current affairs, films and cartoons, closed its doors in 1969, six years after the student demonstration.

At the end of the day, the cinematographer and his team were able to take part in the event.

In the end, this video shows the last moments of the Vaud capital before the major urban development of the 60s and 70s. The construction of the Lausanne-Geneva motorway, terminating at the Maladière roundabout, the abolition of the tramway, but also the redevelopment of the Dorigny University and the transformation of the Place de la Riponne: changes that took place in the wake of the 1964 National Exhibition.

It's all about the city and its people.

The Grange de Dorigny was opened in autumn 1984 as a multi-purpose cultural space. This building, in which animals were still fighting a year earlier, would later serve as the opening venue for the university. In any case, this was one of the wishes expressed by Rector André Delessert, and transcribed in an article in 24heures newspaper on 12 December 1984, at the time of the official inauguration the day before.

The honour of christening the premises fell to an exhibition on xylography, a multi-media printing technique based on woodcuts. It has to be said that, between concerts, exhibitions and other associative activities, the subject did not occupy such a prominent place in the park as it does today.

The first text to be performed was Dario Fo's Mistero Buffo. Three performances were given at the Grange de Dorigny between 15 and 19 January 1985. La Nouvelle Revue de Lausanne of 22 January 1985 praised the verve and sensitivity of Jacques Zwahlen's interpretation and Jean-Pierre Dorian's sober, intelligent direction. According to the critics, the show is a success.

The press had no shortage of words to describe the show. According to 24heures on 17 January 1984, Mistero «Buffo» is a clever blend of realism, irony and humour. The Nouvelle Revue de Lausanne describes it as a kind of mystical-comical one-man show. Over the course of an hour, the audience is treated to the retelling of a number of biblical parables through the eyes of a number of performers. By way of example, let’s pick out a retelling of the «Résurrection of Lazarre»; a highlight of this show according to the médias.

Between 1984 and 1986, no fewer than 10 theatres and cultural venues hosted this version of Fo's work, including the Théâtre du Vide-Poche in Lausanne and the Théâtre de Poche de la Grenette in Vevey. A quality premiere for the Grange de Dorigny.

For the next few years, the théâtre will be presented occasionally à la Grange. The Socio-Cultural Affairs Department is creating a small post to host a few shows a year. It wasn't until 1992 that a genuine circus season was put in place. For almost 25 years, it has made this magnificent venue a unique destination in the Swiss landscape, that of a public theatre in a university.

Matilde Correia