15,rue du 19 Mars 1962, 92240 Malakoff, Paris
project image
Architecture Foundation
London - second prize
This project starts with the idea that the building could be a growing vertical garden, and aims to lend a contemporary perspective on the history of English architecture and landscape. This is articulated through three elements. First, the façade is a climatic ‘membrane” wall that shields the building from the elements (water, air, wind, pollution, sounds…). Second, a cut through the ‘house’ opens the building up and raises the plan into section. Third, in the course of this inversion process, the ‘garden’ climbs from the court onto the roof. The project deliberately articulates the known (house + garden) and the unknown (membrane + inside/out logic). This juxtaposition generates a soft and ever-changing experience of the uncanny. The building does not strive to be a perfect object. It is the result of a collaborative process where teams challenge each other’s understanding of how architecture manifests itself.