Featured Projects

Quentin Barthe, Tom Patenotte, Martin Gaufryau

In a quadrati (enclosed area) within the gardens of the Villa Medici, a majestic pine tree reaches for the sky. Its presence, however, remains discreet, so rich and luxuriant is the vegetation, architecture, and city below. “In Praise of the Pine” offers a poetic reinterpretation of the Roman enclosures that once housed ancient rivalries such as the venationes (hunts) and the munera (hunts). The public, traditionally spectators in the stands, is invited to enter the arena. They thus have the opportunity to commune with nature by rediscovering the roughness of the tree’s protective bark and contemplating its crown, their eyes raised to the heavens. Shaped like a crown, the pavilion features an inverted roof that acts as a raised floor. While serving as a setting, it also redefines the promenade space within the quadrati.

Épigraphe Architectes

Our team has maintained a close connection with the city of Beloeil for over 50 years, having lived in and contributed to the development of public and democratic spaces. Our proposal for the architectural competition to redevelop the Aurèle-Dubois cultural center stems from this deep sense of belonging, familiarity, and intimacy that we have cultivated with this place over the decades. The center we envisioned is rooted in the beauty and intrinsic potential of the site. The serenity of the Richelieu River and the majesty of the natural park behind the building are essential elements that we sought to highlight. We imagined a project that reinvents the relationship between users and nature by blurring the boundaries between architecture and the natural environment.

Atelier Fanelsa

The new Burghofbühne in Beeskow consists of three pavilions with an outdoor stage in the middle of the listed ensemble of the castle complex. The culture center of Oder-Spree district uses the buildings and outdoor stage as a performance venue for actors and musicians, or as a small gallery between seasons. Predominantly, geo-based and bio-based building materials were used for the buildings. Foundations and therefore the use of concrete could be reduced to a minimum by elevating the building. All courtyard facades can be generously opened thanks to the folding shutters and sliding windows. When closed, the elegant pavilions blend in with the red brick castle wall behind them.⁠

MAD

The design of the new town hall is influenced by both the townscape and the architectural style, which is characterized by small-scale buildings with gabled roofs. The building history of the site to be planned also features a courtyard structure with individual gabled houses whose gables face Borngasse. This gave rise to the basic idea of taking the small-scale nature of the site into account and repeating the arrangement of the gables in order to preserve the silhouette of the cityscape. By incorporating this courtyard structure, five building structures were created, which are strung together to form an abstract monolith. The central access element of this structure is an atrium cut out of the building, which is reached via the immediately adjacent and easily accessible entrance area.

Atelier Berger Milà

100 social housing units in Villejuif’s Campus Grand Parc, winning project.

The façades of the three brick buildings unfold in space, orienting views through to the greater landscape as the big Parc de Bruyères to the south and the brutalist water towers to the north. The compact, prismatic volume of the three monoliths offers double-oriented apartments that reinforce the relationship between residents and their environment.

Sebastian Mercado

Inspired by Mexico City, La Alameda envisions a refuge that reflects the vitality and tradition of its urban context. Two main volumes, articulated through interior courtyards, harness natural light to create a serene and ever-changing atmosphere. Pigmented concrete vaults filter light indirectly, while the use of local materials and techniques reinforces its connection to the city’s constructive identity.

313 Design and Architecture

Core House

Central Office for Architecture and Urbanism

This renovation project reimagines a single-family house in Genval by optimizing its layout and expanding its living spaces. The project includes the elevation of the existing house with the creation of new rooms and a winter garden. The ground floor of the existing home has been completely restructured, with interior partitions removed to create an open and rationalized plan. A full additional floor has been added to the house, introducing new rooms that increase its capacity while preserving the architectural coherence of the original structure. A highlight of the extension is the integration of a winter garden, which bathes the interiors in natural light and creates a connection to the surrounding environment.

LITTORAL

This project concerns an aesthete family from the northeast of France, in love with Arcachon, seeking to transform three small apartments on a single plot into one holiday home.
Arcachon, with its urbanism rooted in the past, imposes pseudo-vernacular mouldings on every new façade. The project accepts this constraint: it neither alters the volume nor the street-facing façades. It engages with the rule by subtly stepping aside from it.

Owain Williams Architects

Nestled in line with the boundary walls of its neighbouring Finsbury Park properties, the timber façade of a new housing association office meets the quiet street it now calls home. Embodying the question how small can something monumental be, Owain Williams Architects has transformed a disused concrete garage into a single-storey freestanding office building that faithfully serves as headquarters of the Stroud Green Housing Co-operative.
Responding thoughtfully to its context and community, the building almost takes on an earnestness in the way it carries itself, projecting a quiet, self consciousness in its role of public service. Despite its compact footprint of just 38 square metres, the building gives the impression of being much larger than it is, demanding exaggerated ritualistic gestures that deepens its identity as a civic place. Through clever use of volume and form, the modest centre sits with assured confidence in its place – a public building, but in miniature.