Mundus Novus

The new building complex of the World Council of Churches is integrated into the territory of the international organizations as a large system similar to certain existing complexes such as the UN, ILO and WHO.
The siting of the buildings reinforces two axes of soft mobility with strong symbolic connotations: the Cours des Nobels and the Promenade de la Paix. Mindful of the need to integrate the building on a larger scale, the site of the project is the quadrangle of plots of land which include the Campus Santé bordered by the Route de Ferney, the Route des Morillons and the Chemin du Pommier. The presence of pockets of trees and a system of common axes of access make it possible to ensure the unity of this spatial entity.

By replacing the modernist tree-shaped system of three wings of the existing building by a concentric layout, the central point of which is occupied by the figure of the empty square of the Walter Brugger garden, the system frees up empty spaces which can be urbanized. A large public space which unites the buildings acts as a social condenser: a horizontal surface with views framed by the distance, a meeting place which organizes movement on the site and the logical positioning of entries which ensure ease of walking. This layout perpetuates the historical entity of the Ecumenical Centre by unifying the buildings. The levels of the grounds and their oblong shape create a prolongation of the existing topography; this magnifies the impression of a plateau which already exists on the site.