The Biennale d'architecture et de paysage d'Île de France, to be held in Versailles from May 6 to July 13, 2025, is the most important architecture exhibition in France. For the third edition, the exhibition at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Versailles is co-curated by architects Sana Frini, from the Mexican office LOCUS, and Philippe Rahm, from the French office PHILIPPE RAHM ARCHITECTES.
The theme of their exhibition, titled « Quatre degrés Celsius entre toi et moi », is based on the official statement made in 2023 by former French Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu, announcing that France will experience a temperature increase of +4°C by 2100. As climate change progresses, the current temperate climate of Paris (and other cities at the same northern latitudes) will shift by 2100 into a subtropical climate—hot and dry in summer, mild in winter with heavy rainfall—similar to the current climate of southern Mexico, Tunisia, or South Korea.
According to the Météo-France report, this will mean the following in Paris in 2100:
In summer:
- A rise in average temperatures of up to +5.3°C
- A sharp increase in the number of heatwave days, reaching 3 to 26 days per year, instead of the current average of one day.
- An increase in drought
In winter:
- An increase in average temperatures of up to +3.9°C and fewer periods of frost.
- An increase in the amount of water in precipitation, with no significant increase in the number of rainy days.
The point of the exhibition is to say that architects and urban planners working in temperate northern climates like Paris, New-York or Madrid must now look south, to these subtropical, Mediterranean or even arid or tropical climates, to find models for the architecture and urban planning of their future, draw inspiration from the practical solutions found in subtropical climates to combat heat, drought, rain and flooding, and acquire know-how that will enable them to build, transform and adapt buildings and cities in more northerly latitudes to these rising temperatures and ever-increasing heat waves. The urban landscape of temperate climates will become "Mediterraneanized" and "tropicalized" over the course of the 21st century. And this climatic and hydrographic transformation of northern cities will consequently bring about a revolution in the aesthetics of architecture and cities, in their forms and appearances, and more profoundly in the culture, customs and arts of living in phase with these new material conditions.
CALL FOR ENTRIES
We are looking for architects capable of proposing innovative solutions to withstand high summer temperatures and drought, increased tropical rainfall and flooding, which could serve as models for a tropicalized and Mediterranean Paris by 2100. Responses can be completed or speculative projects, presented in the form of models, prototypes, plans, images, etc.
For this open call, participants must select the subject of their work, from 2 of the main topics: air (cooling by convection, ventilation, etc.), water (cooling by evaporation, protection against rain, flooding, drought, etc.), earth (thermal inertia, geothermal energy, thermal insulation, etc.), or fire (solar protection, albedo, etc.).
The winners will exhibit their work on a table measuring 135 cm long x 120 cm wide, at a height of 40 cm, in the main exhibition space at the École Nationale Supérieure d'architecture de Versailles. Their installation can be freely extended in height (max. 2 meters). Nothing may be suspended. The installation must be unplugged. Electricity is not available. The table supporting the installation cannot be altered or removed. Material sent by the architects will not be returned to the architects, but can be collected from Versailles at the end of the exhibition.
The winners will join the presentation of the work of some fifty contemporary architects in one of four main sections on the theme of natural elements, each dealing with climatic problems and their solutions.
The winners will receive a budget of 2,000 euros TTC for the production and transport of their work.
DELIVERABLES
1-By February 25, 2025, architects will submit by email (a single PDF file in A3 horizontal format, 15 pages max, 10MB max), presenting their project and a technical and visual description of how they will occupy the space allocated to them, i.e. the 135 cm x 120 cm horizontal surface of the table. The document will also contain a summary text of 500 characters presenting their project, as well as the names of the architectural firm and collaborators. The title of the e-mail must include the words: "BAP / Open Call submission".
2- The winners will send physically a package containing their models, prototypes, images, printed plans, etc., and a plan for mounting these elements on the 135 cm x 120 cm table, to be received in Versailles by April 15, 2025 at the latest.
DEADLINE
- Project submission deadline: February 25, 2025 (by e-mail to: hello@bap-quatredegres.com)
- Announcement of winners: February 28, 2025
- Delivery of the work to Versailles: April 15, 2025 (receipt of the crate containing their models, prototypes, printed images and plans, etc., as well as an assembly plan)
Title
Open Call “4° ENTRE TOI ET MOI”: Biennale d’Architecture et de paysage d’Île de France BAP!2025Type
Call for SubmissionsOrganizers
Submission Deadline
February 25, 2025 11:59 PMVenue
École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de VersaillesPrice
Free
