Here is an eco-responsible project that came out of the ground in Nantes in June 2021. That same year, it was selected as a “remarkable operation” by the National Federation of HLM Cooperative Societies. This federation brings together 165 HLM cooperatives in France and rewards the quality of the construction and the particularly innovative approach to participatory housing.
Focus on the Branch House: a house located in the hills of Montecito, California, in the middle of an old oak forest. Following the wishes of its art-loving master builders, TOLO Architecture developed the house as a group of pavilions arranged in relation to each other, open and airy, in direct connection with nature.
It is in Chaniers, in Charente-Maritime, that the Pierre de Ronsard school group will soon see the light of day. The challenge posed by this project? Make simple and readable equipment at the service of all, create a strong identity to signal in its territory, but above all to register it as well as possible in its city, in its district, and in its street.
Graça 117 is one of the rehabilitation projects that has contributed to the enhancement and preservation of the urban unity of the traditional Rua da Graça, in Lisbon.
Nanjing, the ancient capital of southern China, is a bustling commercial center on the banks of the Yangtze River that occupies a central position in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Soon, its historical center will be completed by the new Jiangbei district, a contemporary urban area that integrates culture, tradition, identity, ecology and nature with the spirit of innovation.
Built in the 70s, the Quartier du Pont de Sèvres is a city on slabs emblematic of the end of the Glorious Thirties, which is characterized by its density. Classified as a ZUS (Sensitive Urban Zone) in 1996, the development project for the district began in 2008. The priority is in particular placed on the renovation of public spaces, and particularly the passages of the Old Bridge in Sèvres and Aquitaine.
Launched in 2008, the operation is located in the heart of a dynamic district with an abundant heritage. The project is developing through several capacity studies and programmatic scenarios developed by SRA Architectes. MVRDV joined the project in 2009, and developed a strong concept for the contracting authority Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield: giving the block a human scale, opening it up to the city by staging each component.
Flexible, adaptable, easy to transport and implement: wood appears to be the flagship material of the 21st century. Appreciated both for its durability and its aesthetics, it has been making a strong comeback in the world of architecture for a decade. Here are two projects that prove that wood has not said its last word.
