In June 2011, the Foundation’s employees returned to the Farm after two years during which the activities continued in temporary premises.
The Foundation has found a renovated and expanded workplace with new areas for the preservation of written and audiovisual archives, guaranteeing optimal conditions for preservation and security. New offices are also available to welcome the ever-increasing number of researchers and visitors to Dorigny. Thus, the first beneficiaries of the Henri Rieben Scholarship have already joined the Foundation in autumn 2011.
It is thanks to the constantly renewed support of the public authorities, and in particular the canton of Vaud, which has borne an essential part of the cost of the works, that the extension and renovation have been possible. In addition, several generous donors, including in particular the Loterie Romande, have enabled the Foundation to provide the necessary financial support.
An inaugural visit in a restricted circle to the new premises, attended by the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, the President of the Government of the Canton of Vaud Pascal Broulis, the State Councillor of the Canton of Vaud Anne-Catherine Lyon, the Mayor of the City of Lausanne Daniel Brélaz, the Rector of the University of Lausanne Dominique Arlettaz, and one of the recipients of the Foundation’s Gold Medal, Javier Solana, was held on 7 October in the margins of the Medal award ceremony.
Unique pieces from the Foundation’s written and audiovisual archives were presented in the new underground extension: the Algiers note of 5 August 1943, Paul Reuter’s note, nine drafts of the Declaration of 9 May 1950 and the first European cast iron ingot cast on 30 April 1953, among others. Today, the archives contain hundreds of thousands of documents.
