Chaplin's World | Itten+Brechbühl SA

A new little university town
A new district has been created within the context of the university campus which as well as the complexes formed by the Cantonal archive and the Institut de Hautes Etudes en Administration Publique will now also comprise the Institute for Social and Political Sciences SSP and the Institute for Geo and Environmental Sciences GSE. In terms of urban development, the location demanded that the district be given its own face structurally.

Elements already in existence form the core of the new institutional complex. The internal structure is characterised by four atria which form places of social interchange and communication. They are surrounded by teaching and meeting rooms, laboratories, offices, library and restaurant. The building is marked by great transparency which can be seen already in the form of the continuous glass façades.

Architects /general planners: Itten+Brechbühl AG / Degelo Architekten / Jean Maxime Labrecque

The idea of a remarkable museum dedicated to Charlie Chaplin and his work originated in a meeting in 2000 between a Swiss (Philippe Meylan) and a Quebecer (Yves Durand). Meylan is an architect from the region with long-established connections with the Chaplin family, and Durand is a museographer with a passion for cinema and Chaplin. The very first scenarios concocted between Switzerland and Canada, initially shared very discreetly with the children of the filmmaker, were based on one key concept: Charlie and the Tramp (“Charlot” in French) were to become the ultimate hosts of a museum venue corresponding in every way to their image and situated at the heart of an estate preserving the integrity of the attributes underlying Charlie Chaplin’s decision to make it his family residence.