"Strange Material Transformations" by Ariel Genadt
Ariel Genadt is an architect, a scholar and a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design. He focuses on the relationships between construction technologies and architectural expression of climate and place.
He also specializes in the architecture of modern
Japan. Genadt was a JSPS Fellow Researcher at the Kengo Kuma Lab, Tokyo University and a visiting scholar at the Fondazione Renzo Piano, Genoa. He has curated the exhibition Critical Abstractions: Modern Architecture in Japan, at the University of Pennsylvania Archives.
Workshop - Reconsidering naval architectural heritage towards placemaking in Rouen
This design studio invites students to imagine a project of adaptive reuse of the existing building of the Musée maritime fluvial et portuaire de Rouen. Coinciding with the events of the Armada 2023 (June 8-18), it will reconsider naval architecture that is part of the region's heritage, as a tectonic inspiration. Students will intervene in the existing structure and design an envelope that is better suited and worthy of the museum's rich collections, and more expressive of its riverside and maritime context. Emphasis will be put on the current imperatives of the ecological transition, namely using natural resources in a sustainable manner, and considering the materials' lifecycle, assembly and disassembly. The project will respond to these challenges through a program of a public space dedicated to exhibition, education and exchange for city inhabitants and visitors, and that would foster a sense of belonging to a place. The design process will begin with a study of details and construction methods of ships, including wood parts (hulls, masts, etc.), sails, ropes and knots, as formal and structural generators of meaning. It will consider new materials that allow the reinterpretation of pre-industrial techniques towards innovative creation. The design will rely on the fabrication of physical models at several scales, and detailed drawings. The studio will be conducted in English. A good proficiency in spoken and reading English is required.
"The tree and the architect" by Julien Choppin
Julien Choppin co-founded the Encore Heureux agency in Paris with Nicola Delon. Between 2001 and 2021, he built some twenty projects, including cultural facilities, innovation centers and art installations. He has curated three exhibitions (Matière Grise on the reuse of materials, Lieux infinis on third places, Énergies Désespoirs on the Anthropocene). He now devotes all his time to teaching and research.
Workshop - Ecotopia Studio
This workshop takes as its starting point Ernest Callenbach's novel Ecotopia. This fiction, described by the author as an optimistic utopia, recounts the workings of a society that became radically ecological after three states in the American West seceded from the Union.
This vision of a living alternative that cuts across all dimensions of society, from politics to sport, health and education, does not forget architecture. The author introduces the surprising idea of "forest service": any individual or group wishing to build a framework must first join and stay in a camp in the middle of the forest to perform their forest service: a period of work in which they must, in theory, contribute to the growth of new trees to replace the wood they are going to consume. The aim of this workshop is to design the first forestry service camp in Normandy. The chosen site is the Bordins forest garden, in the commune of Lyons-la-forêt, 35 km from Rouen, in the Lyons state forest, the largest in the Normandy region. Formerly a forest nursery, it was converted into an arboretum in 1981. In the heart of this wooded area, the aim is to design a center to accommodate, welcome and work with a group of 50 people coming to perform their forestry service, with twelve cabins (4 individual, 4 double, 4 for 4 people), a catering area with dining room, collective kitchen and vegetable garden, a communal sanitary area (toilets, baths, sauna) and meeting areas with workshops. The workshop will alternate between individual sessions and group work, and will include site visits with meetings with key players (ONF, local sawmill, etc.). It will provide an opportunity to immerse oneself in the world of the forest, exploring the world of
wood resources and their constructive and ornamental extensions: the aim being to collectively imagine an architectural project in the service of an optimistic ecological narrative.
"Competitions as a field of experience for architects" by Armelle Goyon
Graduating in 2012, Armelle Goyon first trained in an agency for 4 years. Working in the urban planning department, she oversaw several operational and prospective projects. Armelle Goyon also acquired know-how on architectural production through competitions.
In 2017, she founded the JAGG studio with her partner Jeanne Gerbeaud. They were keen to invest eclectic fields of action, cultivating projects of varied natures, scales and programs. The equilibrium of these two partners is based on the heterogeneity of their practice, and is nourished by this diversity.
This enthusiasm is based on the conviction that each project can raise a singular, contemporary question.
Workshop - "The Europan method
"Europan" is a competition for architectural and urban planning ideas held simultaneously every two years in some twenty European countries, based on a common theme and set of rules.
In each country, sites are proposed by local authorities and their partners. Students are invited to take part in the "Europan" competition on a site in Le Havre. They will have to develop an exploratory approach through a transcalar project that will demonstrate a precise strategic positioning and a reflection on the theme of "Living Cities".
"Fluxus, hybrid spaces, sensitive spaces" by Simona Maurone
Simona Maurone holds a degree in Architecture from the University of Genoa and is a member of the Italian and French Associations of Architects, Urban Planners and Landscape Architects, specializing in architecture for the performing arts. She is an assistant on the Lighting Design course, responsible for the
de Création/Théâtre course in the M2 Architecture pour le Spectacle and invited to lead an Architecture for Theatre workshop at Paris 8. In parallel with her 20-year career as an architect, Simona Maurone embarked on a new academic path to research
sound and space at Paris 8. She has created urban spaces with 3S studio, and ephemeral spaces in museography and scenography.
Workshop - "Espaces Hybrides, les tiers lieux" (Hybrid spaces, third places)
The project consists of converting a brownfield site into a multifunctional, multidisciplinary space. It is part of Fontaine l'abbé, which will become a "tiers lieux" in 2022: Les Nouvelles Coordonnées. The association would like to build a resource center as well as a worksite open to the public to experiment with construction techniques using natural and local materials (flax, hemp, earth/straw, mushrooms etc.) as well as low-tech solutions (solar water heating, use of rainwater thanks to underground tanks, water mill to create energy etc.) and re-use of materials, to develop a culture of resilience in architectural projects.
"Bamboo in ecological design" by Tuan Manh Nguyen
Tuan Manh Nguyen founded the Kecho Collective architecture firm in 2018 after 10 years working in the United States. He is currently working on several projects related to ecological design at different scales. Many projects are designed with bamboo, from small townhouses to cultural and hotel projects. Tuan graduated from the Hanoi University of Architecture and trained in urban strategy
with a focus on heritage and sustainable development at the Hanoi University of Architecture and the University of Architecture of
Toulouse, France. He holds another master's degree from the Center for Architectural Sciences and Ecology (CASE), a collaboration between Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Rensselaer Polytechnic in New York. In addition to his practice, he is a lecturer at the Hanoi University of Architecture, teaching
in the Department of Advanced Architecture and the Graduate Program in Architecture (DEA). Tuan is also a global bamboo ambassador, committed to promoting innovation in
bamboo in Vietnam and around the world.
Workshop - "Bamboo in ecological architecture
As students have already covered the necessary skills (analysis, description, articulation of scales and situations/concepts) in their degree course, through the themes of concepts, design and exploration, this master class offers an exploratory theme around bamboo material and ecological design issues. How we observe, represent and design types of bamboo construction, environments and resources for construction, habitat (Differences between bamboo habitats and other types of habitat, bamboo urbanism, bamboo economy...). In an exploratory phase, students are invited to interpret favorable or emerging situations for the use of bamboo, and to conceive new notions for design with bamboo.