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Six projects to understand Lacaton & Vassal′s complex simplicity

A selection of the most distinctive projects of the Pritzker Prize-winning couple, authors of regenerative architecture for the well-being of users and the environment.

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This article was originally published on Domus 1067, April 2022

In their professional partnership of over 30 years, Anne Lacaton and Jean Philippe Vassal have viewed the theme of housing as one of their most demanding challenges, helping to establish the office’s outstanding hallmark.

With their designs of private and social housing, cultural and academic institutions, public spaces and urban redevelopments, they have cemented a working method based on fostering close ties between architecture and its users, as well as between architecture and the city. They have shown how important it is to be sensitive to places and communities, working patiently with the inhabitants to create an architecture that provides freedom, opportunities and comfort, all qualities able to improve the quality of life.

 Their works convey a specific concept of sustainability, developed in terms of direct relationships with the environment, using technologies and materials that recall agricultural and industrial contexts. An important factor in their architecture is adaptability, a design dimension that is open to new possibilities, including future uses yet to be defined. For Lacaton and Vassal, this assumption of responsibility entails consigning the results of their design work to a later time. Upholding the key principles of reinventing, transforming and reusing the existing for the pleasures of habitation, they experiment with a new way of conceiving the space of the home that is capable of responding to the environmental and social crisis.

Maison Latapie

Maison Latapie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Floirac, France, 1993 Maison Latapie is a low-cost residential project resulting from a commission to build a home on a low budget for a couple with two children. Located in a discontinuous residential area, the house fits into the street profile. It is a simple volume on a rectangular base that includes two open platforms. On the street side of the residence, the metal frame is clad with opaque fibre-cement sheeting, while the other side, overlooking the garden, is covered with transparent polycarbonate sheeting to form a conservatory. A wooden volume – which is clamped onto the frame behind the opaque sheeting – defines an insulated and heated winter space opening onto the conservatory and the street-side exterior.

Photo © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Maison Latapie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Floirac, France, 1993 The conservatory faces east and receives the early morning sun. It is an inhabitable part of the house, equipped with ample ventilation panels for comfort in summer. The mobile nature of the east and west facades enables the house to change from its most closed configuration to its most open state according to the inhabitants’ needs and desires for light, transparency, intimacy, protection and ventilation. The inhabitable part of the house can vary according to the seasons, from the smallest spaces (the living room and bedrooms) to the largest area, by integrating the entire garden in high summer.
(from the architects’ project description)

Photo © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Maison Latapie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Floirac, France, 1993

Photo © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Maison Latapie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Floirac, France, 1993

Photo © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Maison Latapie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Floirac, France, 1993

Photo © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Maison Latapie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Floirac, France, 1993

Photo © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Maison Latapie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Floirac, France, 1993

Photo © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Maison Latapie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Floirac, France, 1993

Photo © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Maison Latapie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Floirac, France, 1993

Photo © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Maison Latapie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Floirac, France, 1993

Photo © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Maison Latapie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Floirac, France, 1993

Photo © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Maison Latapie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Floirac, France, 1993

Photo © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Maison Latapie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Floirac, France, 1993

Photo © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Maison Latapie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Floirac, France, 1993

Photo © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Maison Latapie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Floirac, France, 1993

Photo © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Maison Latapie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Floirac, France, 1993

Photo © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Maison Latapie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Floirac, France, 1993

Photo © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

  

The projects presented in this issue of Domus confirm these attitudes, starting from Maison Latapie in Floirac, built in 1993, and leading to a series of variants in their subsequent projects. The distinctive feature of the house is its double skin. The outer one made of galvanised metal and polycarbonate is translucent and ventilated, while the inner one, contained within the former, consists of a volume clad in opaque fibre-cement sheeting. The stated goal was to add an additional space to the house without increasing the budget. Half of the volume creates an environment that oscillates between interior and exterior and can be experienced in different ways to suit the seasons and the occupants’ needs.

Today, defending the pleasure of living seems like a decidedly political act. It is a necessity, a problem that has to be dealt with on the same level as an environmental priority.

Using simple components with an industrial character rather than resorting to complex technology, Lacaton and Vassal created a fluid space that is open to a range of uses. The refinement of their assembly defines spaces of great fascination with a precise personality.

Cité manifeste

Cité manifeste, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, France, 2005 During the Industrial Revolution, the SOMCO association was founded in Mulhouse to address workers’ residential issues. In 1853, it built terraced houses with gardens on single lots, with an average apartment size of 47 square metres, designed by engineer Émile Müller. The Cité manifeste was the first workers’ estate in France, and by the end of the 19th century it comprised 1,240 residential units on 60 hectares. On its 150th anniversary, SOMCO decided to adapt the estate to the needs of the new residents and the requirements of community housing, producing high-quality apartments for averageincome residents. Poitevin-Reynaud, Lewis-Potin & Block, Ban-de Gastines and Ateliers Jean Nouvel were invited to participate, along with our office. Together we worked on the development of the former Schoettlé grounds, each team having a long, narrow lot at its disposal. Altogether, 61 new apartments were built. Our experience guided us in constructing more spacious, open, free, bright, comfortable and cost-effective apartments than conventional residences.

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal

Cité manifeste, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, France, 2005 We started from a simple and functional shell-shaped structure, whose volume was then divided into individual apartments. The ground floor consists of a three-metre-high ferro-concrete structure and generous openable glazing. Behind the glass doors, special curtains combining insulation and external aluminium tissue contribute to thermal comfort. The structure also includes a greenhouse, part of which is insulated and can be heated, and the other part has been left as a winter garden. These two parts are divided by openable interior glass elements. Automatic ventilation flaps on the roof regulate the interior climate, while horizontal interior shading elements provide additional comfort. Stretching along the whole width of the tract, all of the apartments have two levels: a large area on the ground floor and a small one on the upper floor, or vice-versa. 
(from the architects’ project description)

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal

Cité manifeste, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, France, 2005

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal

Cité manifeste, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, France, 2005

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal

Cité manifeste, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, France, 2005

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal

Cité manifeste, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, France, 2005

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal

Cité manifeste, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, France, 2005

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal

Cité manifeste, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, France, 2005

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal

Cité manifeste, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, France, 2005

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal

Cité manifeste, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, France, 2005

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal

Cité manifeste, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, France, 2005

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal

Cité manifeste, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, France, 2005

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal

  

This strand of research evolved into the first Cité manifeste project in Mulhouse. Lacaton & Vassal envisaged a building in which the prevailing formal element was a galvanised industrial structure encased in polycarbonate: a greenhouse-style architecture featuring a classic shallow-arched roof, a simple construction technique but one that creates large apertures and uncluttered spaces, with very few dividing elements. The additional space creates opportunities that the inhabitants are prompted to interpret freely, with unpredictable and changing uses over time.

The designers asked themselves, “How can we trigger an imaginative process? We always try to build a space that does not impose anything, that is nothing but pure freedom. We’re always optimistic about what can happen. We expect people to use the spaces and be inventive about finding possibilities of escape. How can we retreat from reality and always find a way out? By constantly clinging to the idea of an elsewhere, a dream.” With these concepts, the French studio has designed well-balanced and environmentally friendly housing, places for living, not appearing. In this idea of complex simplicity, needs come before aesthetics, and convenience and comfort are prioritised over form. 

Neppert Gardens

Neppert Gardens, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, Francia, 2014 The project is located between Rue Bulher and Rue Neppert in Mulhouse, in the Neppert Gardens ZAC (zone d’aménagement concerté, a joint public and private development area), which includes 59 social rental dwellings developed by SOMCO, with an approach in continuity with the Cité manifeste project. The aims of our intervention were primarily focused on the inhabitants’ quality of living. Firstly, we wanted to create dwellings with larger surface areas than typical standards, as well as offering additional and intermediate spaces with different characteristics compared to traditional rooms in individual houses. These spaces widen the diversity of uses and climatic atmospheres, also by developing outdoor spaces that extend the indoor rooms, thereby bringing this collective housing closer to the qualities of an individual house. Finally, we wanted to optimise the number of dwellings in relation to the plot capacity, developing an efficient project economy to allow the construction of the largest possible surfaces for housing. Some dwellings are duplex apartments.

Foto © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Neppert Gardens, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, Francia, 2014 The flats from T1 to T5 have a dual aspect: the south-east oriented living rooms open onto an intimate terrace that can be widely opened in summer and fully closed in winter. These winter gardens define a bioclimatic system with natural ventilation, allowing the avoidance of overheating and creating a buffer space in winter that takes advantage of the sun’s radiation. The terraces also offer an extra space in addition to the living rooms, much like a private garden. The building has a high performance in terms of energy efficiency, while the constructive system is mostly composed of industrialised elements. Satisfying requirements concerning respect for the environment, the energy-saving design concept fits into a sustainable development philosophy. 
(from the architects’ project description)

Foto © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Neppert Gardens, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, Francia, 2014

Foto © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Neppert Gardens, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, Francia, 2014

Foto © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Neppert Gardens, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, Francia, 2014

Foto © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Neppert Gardens, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, Francia, 2014

Foto © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Neppert Gardens, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, Francia, 2014

Foto © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Neppert Gardens, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, Francia, 2014

Foto © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Neppert Gardens, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, Francia, 2014

Foto © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Neppert Gardens, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, Francia, 2014

Foto © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Neppert Gardens, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, Francia, 2014

Foto © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Neppert Gardens, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, Francia, 2014

Foto © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Neppert Gardens, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, Francia, 2014

Foto © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Neppert Gardens, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, Francia, 2014

Foto © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

Neppert Gardens, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Mulhouse, Francia, 2014

Foto © Philippe Ruault
Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes 

  

A few years later, again in Mulhouse, the practice reaffirmed the approach and objectives presented in the Cité manifeste design by developing another social housing project. Again it featured additional areas, intermediate between interior and exterior, with the homes expanding their potential for use and the range of spaces, as well as improving the internal micro-environment, with floor spaces up to 50 per cent larger than the usual standards. The south-east facing living rooms were extended with terraces, which can be closed in winter (to form an insulating buffer space) and opened in summer (using natural ventilation to avoid overheating). 

Lacaton and Vassal’s residential buildings are crystallised through their definition of a sense of place, in an intense relationship with the environment. They share a distinctive conception of domestic space where the landscape becomes scenery. Rejecting an idea of domesticity as a form of relinquishment, they reinterpret the concept of privacy by breaking down the external walls and creating new open spaces. Like machines revealing the environment surrounding them, the interiors display and incorporate the unexpressed potential of the peripheral landscapes in which they are set. The architectural strategies adopted – passive cooling systems and facings for protection from the sun – become tools for manipulating light and space, simple machines with a tactile and visual relationship that can be opened (and closed where necessary), but that also enrich the spatial experience of the inhabitants.

La Chesnaie

La Chesnaie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Saint-Nazaire, Francia, 2016  This twin operation of transformation and densification is sited in La Chesnaie in Saint-Nazaire, an emblematic area for town planning in the 1970s. It falls within the framework of the Ville-Ouest urban renewal project, through which the local council continues development along the ring road between the city centre and the town of Pornichet. Ideally situated between the sea and city centre, this development is surrounded by a green wooded site, beaches and open spaces, a variety of amenities, quality housing and public transport, but it has lost its attractiveness today. In opposition to current urban policy, which encourages the demolition of such areas regardless of their potential, the project proposes long-term requalification through the radical transformation of 40 apartments in one of the existing high-rises, and its densification through 40 new dwellings grafted onto its gable ends, taking advantage of the empty land around the buildings. Each existing apartment benefitted from a 33-square-metre increase in surface and the addition of a winter garden and balcony, without any major structural works or affecting the building’s organisation. Each bathroom was relocated in an existing nine-square-metre bedroom with a window, while a new bedroom was created in the extension and the former bathroom became a storage space.

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes

La Chesnaie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Saint-Nazaire, Francia, 2016 The winter garden is served by a two-metre-wide climate control device consisting of moveable transparent panels with fabric screening. Combined with a one-metre-wide balcony, it was mounted in front of the original facade. The newly constructed apartments, backing onto the existing high-rise, also have a generous amount of space thanks to their winter gardens and balconies. The block’s transformation was more cost-effective than the demolition of the 40 existing flats and the reconstruction of 80 new ones, and ultimately provides apartments that surpass new construction standards.
(from the architects’ project description)

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes

La Chesnaie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Saint-Nazaire, Francia, 2016

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes

La Chesnaie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Saint-Nazaire, Francia, 2016

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes

La Chesnaie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Saint-Nazaire, Francia, 2016

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes

La Chesnaie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Saint-Nazaire, Francia, 2016

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes

La Chesnaie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Saint-Nazaire, Francia, 2016

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes

La Chesnaie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Saint-Nazaire, Francia, 2016

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes

La Chesnaie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Saint-Nazaire, Francia, 2016

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes

La Chesnaie, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Saint-Nazaire, Francia, 2016

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes

  

As the architects explain: “Today, defending the pleasure of living seems like a decidedly political act. It is a necessity, a problem that has to be dealt with on the same level as an environmental priority. Space is a common good, just like sunshine, air or light. It’s a vital material. As architects, we all need to treat it as such.” The rational structures and clear geometries of their architecture contribute to the construction of a distinctive spatial quality, one capable of bringing out the specific character of the content.

The recent transformation of the Chêne-Bourg district in the canton of Geneva confirms this principle. The spacious homes are pleasant, well lit and cooled by air passing through them thanks to their dual aspect. Large sliding floor-toceiling windows enable the interiors to establish new sightlines with the landscape. In this project again, the bioclimatic envelope of the winter gardens and thermal curtains help to create a pleasant microclimate in all seasons.

Tour Opale (Halte Ceva)

Tour Opale (Halte Ceva), Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Chêne-Bourg, Geneva, Switzerland, 2020 The quality of living spaces, their dimensions and comfort, determine the quality of urban life. The redevelopment of the Chêne-Bourg district of Canton Geneva, near the CEVA station (the local Cornavin–Eaux-Vives–Annemasse rail link), offered an opportunity to re-examine and renew the living space and its relation to the city. The project makes the most of the whole site, as well as the height and potential volume allowed by the planning regulations. The structure is simple and modular: a frame system that enables large surfaces to be left unobstructed and the profile of the facades to be completely freed from any structural constraints. In the same way, it makes it easy to manage the evolution of the distribution of functions in the long term. This enabled the insertion of five office platforms, which can be modulated from a single panoramic space to two, three or four independent spaces. To these are added 101 home units that exploit the differences in orientation and views and enjoy direct sunlight in both summer and winter.

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes

Tour Opale (Halte Ceva), Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Chêne-Bourg, Geneva, Switzerland, 2020 The homes are spacious, pleasant and well lit, with the rooms mostly extending from side to side or with a dual aspect. They seek to recreate the qualities and character of a villa in the city. Each home unit has a winter garden and balconies, which extend the interior space. All the main rooms open onto these spaces through large floor-to-ceiling sliding windows, equipped for comfort with thermal curtains. The bioclimatic envelope consists of winter gardens that can be completely opened in summer, when they become large shady terraces. In winter, their glass facades can be closed to create protected climatic conditions, exploiting the level of sunlight and optimising the energy economy.
(from the architects’ project description)

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes

Tour Opale (Halte Ceva), Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Chêne-Bourg, Geneva, Switzerland, 2020

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes

Tour Opale (Halte Ceva), Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Chêne-Bourg, Geneva, Switzerland, 2020

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes

Tour Opale (Halte Ceva), Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Chêne-Bourg, Geneva, Switzerland, 2020

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes

Tour Opale (Halte Ceva), Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Chêne-Bourg, Geneva, Switzerland, 2020

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes

Tour Opale (Halte Ceva), Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Chêne-Bourg, Geneva, Switzerland, 2020

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes

Tour Opale (Halte Ceva), Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Chêne-Bourg, Geneva, Switzerland, 2020

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes

Tour Opale (Halte Ceva), Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Chêne-Bourg, Geneva, Switzerland, 2020

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes

  

Their designs contain spaces with distinctive qualities, which are encapsulated in their projects for transforming the residential heritage in disuse, making the work of Lacaton and Vassal internationally recognisable.

Space is a common good, just like sunshine, air or light. It’s a vital material. As architects, we all need to treat it as such.

The first project that concretely dealt with this issue was the unprecedented redevelopment project for the Tour Bois le Prêtre. Here an apparently simple and straightforward operation enlarged the apartments by adding loggias, expanding the physical boundaries of the building along with its inhabitants’ mental boundaries, producing a radical improvement in the housing conditions. This move not only improved the quality of the individual units but also had a knock-on effect on the whole neighbourhood by projecting a new image of the building and creating a sense of pride in the community. Since then, their research has continued in the belief that transformation provides an opportunity to offer more and better housing by reusing what already exists. 

Grand Parc

Grand Parc, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Bordeaux, France, 2017 Consisting in the transformation of three inhabited social buildings, the project was the first phase in the renovation of the Cité du Grand Parc. Built in the early 1960s, this housing development counts over 4,000 dwellings. The three buildings G, H and I – standing 10 to 15 storeys high – include 530 dwellings and offered the potential to be transformed into beautiful apartments with redefined qualities and comfort. The addition of winter gardens and balconies allowed each apartment to enjoy more natural light, greater fluidity of use and wider views. From the inside, the panorama of Bordeaux is unique thanks to the city’s low topography, providing an extraordinary living situation. For buildings G, H and I, a generous, economic and sustainable approach was adopted to immediately attain the qualities of highrise buildings for high-quality residences, defined as examples of responsible housing for the future. The project’s overall economy is based on the choice of conserving the existing buildings without carrying out major interventions on the structures, stairs or floors. 

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes / Frédéric Druot Architecture / Christophe Hutin Architectes

Grand Parc, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Bordeaux, France, 2017 This strategy made it possible to focus resources on generous extensions that are, in our view, key to enhancing the dwellings’ quality and dimensions in a lasting manner. These extensions expand the space of use and the evolution of the dwellings, as well as offering the opportunity, as in a house, to live outside while being at home. The apartments open onto large winter gardens and balconies, and offer pleasant outdoor spaces that are large enough to be fully utilised: 3.80 metres deep on the south facades of buildings H and I, and on the 2 facades of building G. Interventions to improve the interiors and restructure the bathrooms are also planned. The gardens at the foot of the buildings have been enhanced, facilitating their access and use. The project also deals with the overall performance of the building envelope, as well as the reconfiguration of vertical circulations and access halls.
(from the architects’ project description)

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes / Frédéric Druot Architecture / Christophe Hutin Architectes

Grand Parc, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Bordeaux, France, 2017

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes / Frédéric Druot Architecture / Christophe Hutin Architectes

Grand Parc, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Bordeaux, France, 2017

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes / Frédéric Druot Architecture / Christophe Hutin Architectes

Grand Parc, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Bordeaux, France, 2017

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes / Frédéric Druot Architecture / Christophe Hutin Architectes

Grand Parc, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Bordeaux, France, 2017

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes / Frédéric Druot Architecture / Christophe Hutin Architectes

Grand Parc, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Bordeaux, France, 2017

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes / Frédéric Druot Architecture / Christophe Hutin Architectes

Grand Parc, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Bordeaux, France, 2017

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes / Frédéric Druot Architecture / Christophe Hutin Architectes

Grand Parc, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Bordeaux, France, 2017

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes / Frédéric Druot Architecture / Christophe Hutin Architectes

Grand Parc, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Bordeaux, France, 2017

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes / Frédéric Druot Architecture / Christophe Hutin Architectes

Grand Parc, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Bordeaux, France, 2017

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes / Frédéric Druot Architecture / Christophe Hutin Architectes

Grand Parc, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Bordeaux, France, 2017

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes / Frédéric Druot Architecture / Christophe Hutin Architectes

Grand Parc, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Bordeaux, France, 2017

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes / Frédéric Druot Architecture / Christophe Hutin Architectes

Grand Parc, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Bordeaux, France, 2017

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes / Frédéric Druot Architecture / Christophe Hutin Architectes

Grand Parc, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Bordeaux, France, 2017

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes / Frédéric Druot Architecture / Christophe Hutin Architectes

Grand Parc, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Bordeaux, France, 2017

Courtesy © Lacaton & Vassal Architectes / Frédéric Druot Architecture / Christophe Hutin Architectes

  

A significant example is the transformation of an apartment building in the La Chesnaie district of Saint-Nazaire. Redevelopment of the 40 dwellings was accompanied by the construction of a second building. The existing and the new relate to each other in an open dialogue, in which the overlapping of the two structures favours unexpected developments, with unforeseen uses of the interiors and unusual models of user behaviour.

More recently, thanks to the convincing success of these projects, the experiment was continued in the transformation of 530 apartments distributed in three buildings constituting the first lot of the extensive Grand Parc complex in Bordeaux. They again offered a complete reinterpretation of the structure, without displacing the inhabitants during the renovation work, presenting a remarkable new image of the social housing complex that stressed linearity, lightness and rigour

Anne Lacaton and Jean Phillippe Vassal. Photo © Philippe Ruault

With an attentive gaze that is respectful of the different situations encountered, Lacaton and Vassal’s residential projects present a lesson in humility, seriousness and intelligence. They work by small adjustments rather than grand proclamations, pursuing a coherent series of subtle variations capable of producing unforeseen discoveries. This approach to design renders the living space both reassuring and unexpected, capable of articulating collective relational spaces and protecting the indispensable intimate and private dimension of housing, while magically relating it to the landscape. This kind of space can affect us emotionally by building that “atmosphere” that Peter Zumthor considers vital and necessary in defining a building’s qualities.

Read also: Lacaton and Vassal: “Pleasure of living”
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