Pritzker Prize 2021 Laureates, French architects Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, founders of Lacaton & Vassal, are known for their “never demolish” principle and their notion of sustainability embodied in a three-pillar balance: economic, environmental, and social. In this exclusive video for ArchDaily, Martha Thorne, executive director of the Pritzker Architecture Prize and Dean of IE School of Architecture and Design, shares some of the reasons why Lacaton & Vassal has won the Pritzker Prize 2021.
Lacaton & Vassal: The Latest Architecture and News
Lacaton & Vassal’s Transformation of 530 Dwellings Through the Lens of Laurian Ghinitoiu
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Renowned photographer Laurian Ghinitoiu has shared with ArchDaily a series of photos of one of the most influential projects of recent Pritzker Laureates, Anne Lacaton, and Jean-Philippe Vassal. The Transformation of the 530 dwellings in Bordeaux, 3 modernist residential buildings, reflect Lacaton & Vassal's sensitivity towards understanding existing structures. It also highlights how with minimal interventions, radical changes can be made to the habitability and usability of a modernist building -knowing that in Europe, the majority of these structures have ended up being demolished-. This approach was enough to select this transformation as the winner of the EU Mies 2019 Award, for the best contemporary architecture in Europe.
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https://www.archdaily.com/958572/lacaton-and-vassals-transformation-of-530-dwellings-through-the-lens-of-laurian-ghinitoiuDiego Hernández
Who Are Lacaton & Vassal? 15 Things to Know About the 2021 Pritzker Architecture Laureates
With a formal and material approach that differs from the scenarios we usually find in Architecture, Lacaton & Vassal —a French practice that marks its influence in contemporary times by being awarded the Pritzker Prize 2021— brings an open and generous vision to the field.
https://www.archdaily.com/958575/who-are-lacaton-and-vassal-15-things-to-know-about-the-2021-pritzker-architecture-laureatesVictor Delaqua
Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal Receive the 2021 Pritzker Architecture Prize
The 2021 Pritzker Architecture Prize, architecture’s highest honor, has been granted to Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, founders of Lacaton & Vassal, the French duo renowned for their multiple sustainable housing projects and for the Palais de Tokyo, a contemporary art gallery in Paris. In their three decades of work, Lacaton & Vassal always prioritized the “enrichment of human life”, benefiting the individual and supporting the evolution of the city.
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https://www.archdaily.com/958565/anne-lacaton-and-jean-philippe-vassal-receive-the-2021-pritzker-architecture-prizeChristele Harrouk
Lacaton & Vassal: Get to Know 2021 Pritzker Winners' Built Work
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Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal founded their architectural studio Lacaton & Vassal in 1987, years after studying and working together at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture et de Paysage de Bordeaux. The practice established in Paris has been awarded this year’s prestigious 2021 Pritzker Prize. Their built work leaves strong evidence of what they believe is relevant: sustainability, wellbeing, social responsibility, and the readaptation and the respect of the existing built environment.
https://www.archdaily.com/958569/lacaton-and-vassal-get-to-know-2021-pritzker-winners-built-workPaula Pintos & Clara Ott
Grand Parc Bordeaux Wins 2019 EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award
Transformation of 530 Homes – Grand Parc Bordeaux by Lacaton & Vassal architectes, Frédéric Druot Architecture and Christophe Hutin Architecture has been awarded the 2019 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award. The innovative renovation of three large blocks of social housing in Bordeaux was praised for “radically improving the space and quality of life of its occupants” and for optimizing their economic and environmental cost of living.
https://www.archdaily.com/914806/grand-parc-bordeaux-wins-2019-eu-prize-for-contemporary-architecture-mies-van-der-rohe-awardNiall Patrick Walsh
Lacaton & Vassal's FRAC Dunkerque is an Architectural Echo Both in Form and in Concept
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As industry has shifted over the past century, in format, location, and type, the manufacturing and industrial spaces scattered across the western world have been repurposed. You have no doubt seen these structures, though perhaps without realizing. The large windows, high ceilings, and open floor plans optimized for factory work now mark the territory of the “creative class”. Such spaces have been disproportionately appropriated by creative industries such as arts and architecture; think of Herzog + de Meuron’s renovation of the Tate Modern (from a former power station) or the recent collaborative transformation of a locomotive yard into a library in the Netherlands.
https://www.archdaily.com/911719/lacaton-and-vassals-frac-dunkerque-is-an-architectural-echo-both-in-form-and-in-conceptKatherine Allen
5 Projects Shortlisted for 2019 EU Mies Prize for Contemporary Architecture
Five finalist projects have been shortlisted for the 2019 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture, an award given jointly by the European Commission and the Mies van der Rohe Foundation. The biennial prize, for which ArchDaily is a media partner, recognizes the Europe-located projects that demonstrate excellence in "conceptual, social, cultural, technical, and constructive terms."
https://www.archdaily.com/911318/5-projects-shortlisted-for-2019-eu-mies-prize-for-contemporary-architectureKatherine Allen
The Week in Architecture: Blue Monday and the Aspirations of a New Year
For those in the northern hemisphere, the last full week in January last week kicks off with Blue Monday - the day claimed to be the most depressing of the year. Weather is bleak, sunsets are early, resolutions are broken, and there’s only the vaguest glimpse of a holiday on the horizon. It’s perhaps this miserable context that is making the field seem extra productive, with a spate of new projects, toppings out and, completions announced this week.
The week of 21 January 2019 in review, after the break:
https://www.archdaily.com/910264/the-week-in-architecture-blue-monday-and-the-aspirations-of-a-new-yearKatherine Allen
Anne Lacaton Interview: Always Add, Never Withdraw
In this video from the Louisiana Museum, Anne Lacaton from the award-winning practice Lacaton & Vassal describes the importance of building upon existing conditions to create new architecture. She shares the firm's approach to architecture, which is to "never withdraw, always add" and their focus on generosity of space, care of the users, and utilization of existing natural resources to create a more affordable architecture.
Lacaton & Vassal have gained worldwide acclaim for their transformative social housing work. They were awarded the Grand Prix national de l'architecture in 2008, the Heinrich Tessenow Medal in 2016, and the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture in 2018, to name a few. Their projects such as the 23 Semi-collective Housing Units in Trignac, France, and Ourcq Jaures Student & Social Housing display a dedication to social responsibility in architecture. In Anne Lacaton's interview, she describes how they mine the richness of existing architecture and the surroundings to create beautiful and affordable designs. Interpreting history as "an addition of layers," she articulates their stance against the idea of tabula rasa and the importance of utilizing the found beauty of existing environments: "We don't see [the existing conditions] as a constraint, we see it as a chance."
https://www.archdaily.com/900980/anne-lacaton-interview-always-add-never-withdrawYiling Shen
Anne Lacaton: LIVE KEYNOTE from the 7th VELUX Daylight Symposium
Anne Lacaton (France) is an award-winning architect and part of the duo Lacaton & Vassal, having made reuse of existing materials and integration of daylighting in standard construction their signature architecture and adding a social dimension to architectural design.
https://www.archdaily.com/870484/anne-lacaton-live-keynote-from-the-7th-velux-daylight-symposiumRene Submissions (Partners)
Curry Stone Design Prize Recognizes 7 Practices for Strides in Social Housing
In honour of its 10th anniversary, the Curry Stone Design Prize will recognize a large group of the world’s most socially conscious and active design practices, in what the Foundation has coined as the Social Design Circle.
Over the course of the year, 100 firms will be added to the Circle for their sustainable, socially inclusive and impactful design work, under twelve specific themes. Each month, select firms’ work will be highlighted individually on the Prize’s website, while also featuring on the Curry Stone Foundation’s new podcast, Social Design Insights.
The following seven practices were selected for the month of February, in response to the theme “Is The Right to Housing Real?”:
https://www.archdaily.com/804554/curry-stone-design-prize-recognizes-7-practices-for-strides-in-social-housingOsman Bari
Lacaton & Vassal and UMWELT Awarded the 2016 Lisbon Architecture Triennale's Lifetime Achievement and Début Awards
French studio Lacaton & Vassal and Chilean studio UMWELT have been revealed as the recipients of the 2016 Lisbon Architecture Triennale's Lifetime Achievement Award and Début Award, respectively. An award ceremony will take place on the 15th November 2016 at the Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB), followed by a conference convened by Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal.
https://www.archdaily.com/796971/lacaton-vassal-umwelt-receive-2016-lisbon-architecture-triennial-form-of-form-millennium-bcp-lifetime-achievement-debut-awardRomullo Baratto
Kerez, Herzog & de Meuron and Studio Gang Shortlisted to Design London's Royal College of Art's Battersea Campus
London's Royal College of Art (RCA) have revealed seven invited shortlisted practices for its new state-of-the-art £108million Battersea South campus. Featuring a smattering of architects from Europe, including Herzog & de Meuron and Lacaton & Vassal, and from the USA, such as Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Studio Gang, the organisation intends to announce the winning scheme in October 2016.
https://www.archdaily.com/793059/kerez-herzog-de-meuron-studio-gang-shortlist-london-royal-college-of-arts-battersea-south-campusAD Editorial Team
Lacaton & Vassal and KieranTimberlake Named Among Metropolis Magazine's 2016 “Game Changers”
Metropolis has released their list of five design thinkers leading the world in innovation for their 2016 Game Changers issue. The Metropolis Game Changers issue was created in 2011 to showcase transformational changes that are national in scope, but global in impact, and can be awarded to individuals, firms, projects or ideas within the various spheres of design. Past nominees from the realm of architecture include Michael Maltzan, MASS Design Group, Edward Mazria, Vincent Scully, SOM’s Great Lake Century Project, and former SHoP Principal Vishaan Chakrabarti.
With two architectural firms, an architecture curator and a co-working space driving urban renewal all making the five-strong list, this year's Game Changers issue offers plenty of interest for architectural readers.
https://www.archdaily.com/781118/lacaton-and-vassal-and-kierantimberlake-named-among-metropolis-magazines-2016-game-changersPatrick Lynch
BIG, SANAA and Lacaton & Vassal Preselected in Competition to Design the New Aarhus School of Architecture
After receiving applications from 42 teams to pre-qualify for participation in a competition to design the new Aarhus School of Architecture in Denmark, three teams have been selected: Lacaton & Vassal, along with Powerhouse and Kristine Jensens Tegnestue; SANAA, along with B+G Ingenieure and Sasaki and Partners; and BIG along with Transform, Rambøll and SLA.
https://www.archdaily.com/777410/big-sanaa-and-lacaton-and-vassal-preselected-in-competition-to-design-the-new-aarhus-school-of-architectureKatie Watkins
5 Projects at the Chicago Biennial that Demonstrate the State of the Art of Sustainability
At the Chicago Architecture Biennial, the theme selected by directors Joseph Grima and Sarah Herda was deliberately wide in scope, with the expectation that more than one hundred exhibitors would each bring their own perspective on what is “The State of the Art of Architecture.” But where does that leave one of architecture's most widely adopted missions of the 21st century: sustainability? In this article, originally published on her blog Architectstasy as “Chicago Architecture Biennial: The State of the Art of Sustainability,” Jessica A S Letaw delves into five projects that take on sustainability in the context of Chicago's biennial.
At North America's inaugural Architecture Biennial in Chicago, “The State of the Art of Architecture,” architectural firms and practices from all six inhabited continents have been invited to display their work. Spanning all sizes and kinds of projects, the Biennial is showcasing solutions to design problems from spiderwebs to social housing.
US buildings use around 40% of all the country’s energy consumption. It is a disconcerting truth that even if every new building starting construction tomorrow were to be net-zero energy and net-zero water, we’d still be on a crash course, draining more naturally-available resources than our one planet can permanently sustain. In this environment, architectural designers have a special responsibility to educate themselves about innovative sustainable design techniques, from those that have worked for thousands of years to those that, as the Biennial’s title hopefully suggests, are state of the art.
So what does the Biennial have to say about sustainability? Five projects on display demonstrate different approaches at five different scales: materials, buildings, resources, cities, and the globe.
https://www.archdaily.com/777081/5-projects-at-the-chicago-biennial-that-demonstrate-the-state-of-the-art-of-sustainabilityJessica A S Letaw
Video: Ourcq Jaures Student & Social Housing / Lacaton & Vassal Architectes
PA#46 - Student and public housing, Paris 19 por Pavillon-Arsenal
The Pavillion de l'Arsenal have shared a collection of videos from their "Paris Architectures" series. Dive into these short films that document remarkable architecture around France's capital city.
This week we get a glimpse of Lacaton & Vassal Architectes' Ourcq Jaures Student & Social Housing.
https://www.archdaily.com/770936/video-ourcq-jaures-student-and-social-housing-lacaton-and-vassal-architectesAD Editorial Team