The Central Central Park in Taichung, Taiwan, spans 70 hectares, serving as a signature example of the work produced by Swiss architect Philippe Rahm. Born in 1967 in Pully, he operates an architectural practice in Paris, focusing on integrating physiological and climatic scales into the built environment through a lens of sustainability.
Professional Practice and Design Philosophy
Rahm earned his diploma from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in 1993. His office in Paris specializes in projects that link the human body to broader environmental conditions. Notable works include a 13,000 square-meter office building in La Défense, France, developed for EPADESA in 2010. His portfolio also features convective apartments for the IBA in Hamburg, Germany, and stage design for the White geology exhibit at the Grand-Palais in Paris. In 2011, he secured the international competition for the Jade Eco Park in Taiwan, a project completed in 2020 in collaboration with mosbach paysagistes and Ricky Liu & Associates. Further urban planning work includes the 2019 competition for the Farini and San Cristoforo sites in Milan, won alongside OMA.
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His work has appeared in venues such as the Centre Pompidou, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, and the Canadian Centre for Architecture. He represented Switzerland at the 8th Architectural Venice Biennale in 2002 and participated in the 2008 edition. His teaching career spans several continents, including positions at the Harvard Graduate School of Design from 2014 to 2016 and Cornell University from 2018 to 2020. He has held visiting professorships at Princeton University and the AA School of Architecture in London. Currently, he serves as a Dean’s Visiting Associate Professor at Columbia University’s GSAPP and holds a tenured teaching role at the ENSAV in Versailles and HEAD-Genève.
Recognition and Scholarly Output
In 2017, the French government appointed Rahm a Knight of the Order of Cultural Merit. His written output is extensive, covering themes of atmospheric and climatic architecture. Key publications include Form follows climate, The anthropocene style, and Climatic architecture. As of 2025, he holds co-curator roles for the Biennial of architecture and landscape of Île-de-France and the Saint-Étienne International Design Biennial, while also participating in the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennial.
Fast facts
- Born: 1967, Pully, Switzerland
- Education: EPFL, 1993
- Current Practice: Philippe Rahm architectes, Paris
- Major Project: Central Central Park, Taichung, 2011-2020
- Academic Roles: Columbia University, ENSAV, HEAD-Genève
- Award: Knight of the Order of Cultural Merit, 2017
Questions readers ask
What is the primary focus of Philippe Rahm's architectural approach?
His work concentrates on the relationship between the physiological scale of the human body and the climatic scale of the city.
Where does he teach architecture currently?
He is a Dean’s Visiting Associate Professor at Columbia University and teaches at the national school of architecture of Versailles and HEAD-Genève.
Achievements
- Knight of the Order of Cultural Merit
- Trained at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne
