Tiago André Pratas Borges
Website: https://east.epfl.ch
+41 21 693 32 40
Office: BP 4128
EPFL › ENAC › ENAC-DEC › DOENAC
Website: https://www.epfl.ch/schools/enac/about/diversity-office/
Expertise
Type and Typology
Greenhouses and Domestic Architecture
Typological Transfers and Reuse
Collage and Composite Types
After teaching with Anne Lacaton and Jean Philippe Vassal, he joined the EAST laboratory at EPFL where he collaborated as researcher and instructor in several design studios. As Master Diploma tutor, Tiago provided tuition to more than 50 works.
He concluded his PhD dissertation in architectural theory and history at EPFL –Neither House nor Garden. Greenhouses as Domestic Space and the Question of Climatic Typology – under the supervision of Prof. Anja Fröhlich. The dissertation examines the dynamics of types and typological transfer, with a primary focus on the historical interplay between greenhouses and domestic spaces. Since 2025, he is a postdoctoral researcher and leads the Greenhouse Studies design studio at Laboratory EAST, EPFL - a research 'spin-off' of his PhD dissertation, where Bachelor and Master students explore the intersection of micro-climate, greenhouses and housing.
In parallel, he collaborates with architectural publications and has been awarded the "Erstling - Critique d'Architecture émergente" distinction by the Swiss magazine Werk, Bauen und Wohnen. He curated the 5x3 lecture series at the Forum d'Architectures de Lausanne and was co-curator of the exhibition Still a Matter of Art - Young Swiss Architecture at the Forum d'Architectures de Lausanne and. In 2019, he co-edited the book Plans and Images, published by Park Books in 2019. Between 2020 and 2022, he developed projects as a curator at Archizoom, the cultural platform for architecture at EPFL: Sometimes Doing Nothing Leads to Something (2020), Do Not Carry Your Flag Too Low - Actions from Matrix Feminist Design Co-operative (2022). As an architect, he has worked for various Swiss practices before establishing his own.
Awards
Emergent architecture criticism competition | Erstlings - des Wettbewerbs für Architekturkritik
werk, bauen wohnen
2016
Triennale d'Art UNIL
Selected projet
2016
Publications
Journal Articles
Does it Make Sense to Speak about Type Today? On Typology, Climate and The Work of Lacaton & Vassal
Burning Farm. A Journal on Architecture and Domestic Space. 2023.Qui se passe-t-il à Ritter Un ?
Tracés : revue suisse romande des techniques et cultures du bâti / Société suisse des ingénieurs et des architectes (SIA). 2021.Répéter différemment - Observations sur le travail de Camponovo Baumgartner Architekten au Wildermettpark
Werk, Bauen + Wohnen. 2017. DOI : 10.5169/seals-738168.Durand vs. Pinterest
Trans : Publikationsreihe des Fachvereins der Studierenden am Departement Architektur der ETH Zürich. 2015. DOI : 10.5169/seals-918913.Conference Papers
Is Green A Good Color For A House? Typological Transfer And The LOG ID Experiment
2024. Space Oddity: On Spatial Narratives - XII Graduate Conference in Culture Studies, Lisbon, Portugal, January 25-27, 2024.Climatic Affinities or Type As A Structure Of Relations Based On Typological Transfer In The Work Of Lacaton & Vassal And Other Similar Precedents
2023. The Fifth Typology: On Architecture and Type, EPFL, Lausanne, April 04-05, 2023.Climatic Affinities or Type As A Structure Of Relations, Based On Typological Transfer In The Work Of Lacaton & Vassal And Other Similar Precedents
2023. The Fifth Typology A Symposium on Type and Architecture, Lausanne, Switzerland, April 4-5, 2023.Reviews
Ein Akt der Grosszügigkeit - Peter Zumthor im Kunsthaus Bregenz
Werk, Bauen + Wohnen. 2017.Books
Studies on Types. Filling Stations.
Zürich: Triest Verlag, 2025.Studies on Types: Dormitories
Lausanne: EPFL Press, 2022.An Archive of Projects on Typology in Architecture 2013-2018
Zürich: Parkbooks, 2019.Theses
Neither House nor Garden. Greenhouses as Domestic Space and the Question of Climatic Typology
Lausanne, EPFL, 2025. DOI : 10.5075/epfl-thesis-11139.Book Chapters
To Work Typologicalle Is to Re-co-gnise: Some Thoughts on the Typological Study 'Tackle the Type: Dormitories'
Transcalar prospects in climate crisis : architectural research in re/action; Zürich: Lars Müller Publishers, 2024. p. 216 - 217.From Precedents to References - The Case of "Tackle the Type"
Studies on Types: Dormitories; Lausanne: EPFL Press, 2022.Introduction: On Lit avec les Yeux
Plans and images: an archive of projects on typology in architecture 2013-2018; Zürich: Parkbooks, 2019.Tackle the Type Interview With Rafael Moneo on Typology
Plans and images: an archive of projects on typology in architecture 2013-2018; Zürich: Park Books, 2019.Talks
Some Houses Are Worth Reading Twice. The Greenhouse Effects Of The House Latapie, 30 Years After
Course "Theory and Architectural Culture", Lausanne, Switzerland, April 6, 2023.Climatic Affinities - Typological transfer in the work of Lacaton & Vassal and other similar precedents
Conferences Tackle The Type: Filling Stations, Lausanne, 27.03.2023.Media
Dormir dans un dortoir
2023.On n'échappe pas à l’espace!
2020.Teaching & PhD
Courses
Studio BA6 (Fröhlich M. & A.)
AR-302(ag)
Greenhouse Studies exploring the potential of greenhouse structures in the context of contemporary challenges. The design studios investigate greenhouses as a climate-responsive architectural type that can transform existing structures into collective and communal spaces.
Studio BA6 (Fröhlich M. & A.)
AR-301(ag)
Greenhouse Studies exploring the potential of greenhouse structures in the context of contemporary challenges. The design studios investigate greenhouses as a climate-responsive architectural type that can transform existing structures into collective and communal spaces.
Studio MA1 (Fröhlich M. & A.)
AR-401(ag)
Greenhouse Studies exploring the potential of greenhouse structures in the context of contemporary challenges. The design studios investigate greenhouses as a climate-responsive architectural type that can transform existing structures into collective and communal spaces.
Studio MA2 (Fröhlich M. & A.)
AR-402(ag)
Greenhouse Studies exploring the potential of greenhouse structures in the context of contemporary challenges. The design studios investigate greenhouses as a climate-responsive architectural type that can transform existing structures into collective and communal spaces.