- Architecture history

In the work of Le Corbusier we see a family of projects that begin with something in common: the suspended garden. The Meyer and Hutheesing-Shodhan houses (objects of study of author’s doctoral thesis) form a family with: the Immeuble-villas (1922-25) and their two direct descendents (L’Esprit Nouveau pavilion, and the suburban houses, 1925); the single-family houses, Stein-de Monzie (1927), Ocampo (1928) and Savoy (1929). I also added the Princesse de Polignac (1926) and Chimanbhai houses (1952-55); some apartments in the Wanner building (1928-29, including some small cells with garden that to my understanding, are the minimum expression of the type); some apartments from the Cooperative Village (1924-38); and the Immeuble-villas included on the first version of the Unité d’Habitation at Marsielle (1945). The suspended gardens in those projects act as an air capsule that transform the façade limit, dilating the transition between the private and the public, inside and outside, architecture and Nature.

From the publisher:
"We are conditioned over time to regard environmental forces such as dust, mud, gas, smoke, debris, weeds, and insects as inimical to architecture. Much of today's discussion about sustainable and green design revolves around efforts to clean or filter out these primitive elements. While mostly the direct result of human habitation, these "subnatural forces" are nothing new. In fact, our ability to manage these forces has long defined the limits of civilized life. From its origins, architecture has been engaged in both fighting and embracing these so-called destructive forces. In Subnature, David Gissen, author of our critically acclaimed Big and Green, examines experimental work by today's leading designers, scholars, philosophers, and biologists that rejects the idea that humans can somehow recreate a purely natural world, free of the untidy elements that actually constitute nature. Each chapter provides an examination of a particular form of subnature and its actualization in contemporary design practice."

Proposal for
City of LAS VEGAS
Nevada, USA

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

The objective is to valorize the City of Las Vegas  with an innovative 2 kilometers large Sign
seen from 20 miles employing equipment and materials suitable
for full environmental sustainability of the 21st Century

Cette recherche, Pour une architecture de l’écume ; Force, forme et matière dans la morphogenèse de l’architecture numérique, s’interroge sur les processus de prise de forme matérielle et leurs influences dans l’émergence de l’architecture numérique. La première partie de la thèse porte d’abord un regard historique, comme théorique, sur trois différentes phases dans la relation entre forme, force et matière. Par une analyse biologique, philosophique et physique, nous expliciterons une multitude de concepts, et leurs influences sur l’architecture ; elle qui se trouvera, à regret, sans cesse en retard face à eux. Ces idées pourront sembler éloignées, au premier abord, mais elles viendront peu à peu ficeler une nouvelle approche à l’architecture, celle du système matériel. De plus, la technologie numérique sera au cœur de cette convergence, ce qui facilitera le mélange du savoir multidisciplinaire, par la création de plates-formes de communication générales.
Ensuite, la deuxième partie nous transporte vers l’architecture de l’écume. Nous débutons avec l’analyse morphogénétique de ces mousses savonneuses, ainsi que leur parallèle dans l’architecture expérimentale, des années 1950 jusqu’à aujourd’hui, pour y exposer leurs possibilités spatiales et atmosphériques. Il s’agit d’une démonstration des possibilités reliées à l’intégration des théories, mises en place dans la première partie, dans la conception d’un système matériel, inspiré des agrégations poly-sphériques et des solides cellulaires. Une méthodologie numérique exhaustive y est développée, allant de la génération algorithmique de l’écume, à sa fabrication numérique, en passant par l’optimisation topologique de sa structure matérielle.

This research project chronicles innovative and conventional approaches to converting religious residences and institutions into affordable and alternative housing in Québec City. Using three case study projects selected from a wider inventory of conversion projects, it documents the roles of various players, identifies the “best practices” in creating this form of housing, and evaluates the successes and failures of the case studies. The study uses interviews with occupants and neighbours as well as key actors and direct observation to make post-occupancy evaluations of the case studies in addition to written records to contextualize the adaptive reuse projects. The findings reveal that although institutional building types can accommodate housing functions relatively easily and that they are generally well-situated in proximity to public transportation and local services, the greatest factor in ensuring its success remains the level of funding or investment in the conversion project. Too often, much usable building fabric is destroyed due to lack of financial resources, inflexibility in the application of building codes, lack of understanding of the original building’s performance and the proper ways of taking advantage of its inherent qualities in terms of natural ventilation and thermal comfort, and the expectations of future users as to what constitutes good housing. Yet, creating new housing in old buildings such as convents and Catholic religious institutional buildings can preserve the built heritage of a city in keeping with the tenets of sustainable development and can help solve the affordable and alternative housing challenges in many Canadian urban centers if the proper financial, technical and policy tools are developed.