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Viollet-le-Duc, an inspired vision of restoration

“ Restoring a building does not mean maintaining, repairing or remaking it, it means restoring it to a complete state that may never have existed at any given time, according to Viollet-Le-Duc. ”

  • Publish On 1 August 2024
  • Bérénice Gaussuin
  • 29 minutes

Viollet-le-Duc is famous for restoring the spire of Notre-Dame, which had been knocked down in 1792. In the course of this construction project, he reinvented the statues of the portals and the Kings’ Gallery, which had been decimated during the Revolution, because, in his words: “Restoring an edifice does not mean maintaining, repairing or remaking it, it means re-establishing it in a complete state that may never have existed at a given moment.” Bérénice Gaussuin, PhD in architecture, whose book Viollet-le-Duc : La forge d’une théorie de la restauration par la pratique (Viollet-le-Duc: Forging a theory of restoration through practice) has just been published (CNRS Éditions), takes a look at the approach of this extraordinary restorer.

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Vidéo

Bringing together an architectural project and a collection project 

Philippe Chiambaretta, Nicolas Bourriaud

Vidéo

Bringing together an architectural project and a collection project 

L’agence PCA-STREAM dirigée par l’architecte Philippe Chiambaretta a signé en 2006 le projet de réhabilitation d’un immeuble tertiaire destiné à accueillir le tout nouveau Centre d’Art Contemporain de Kiyv. Le projet architectural s’est construit en parallèle du positionnement éditorial et de la constitution de la collection, en collaboration étroite avec le mécène du projet Viktor Pinchuk et le curateur Nicolas Bourriaud. Retour sur la genèse de ce projet ambitieux, destiné à ouvrir l’Ukraine sur le Monde.

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Podcast

“ My research question was: How do tools for integrating biodiversity into urban and architectural projects contribute to shaping multi-species urban worlds? ”

Translating biodiversity

Léone-Alix Mazaud

Podcast

“ My research question was: How do tools for integrating biodiversity into urban and architectural projects contribute to shaping multi-species urban worlds? ”

Translating biodiversity

In this first episode, Léone revisits the genesis of her research topic and traces the evolution of her methodology. She adopts a “material semiotics” approach, focused on how biodiversity tools translate and make ecological knowledge perceptible. These tools are analyzed as “cosmograms,” according to John Tresch’s concept: objects designed to summarize the order of the world by materially organizing the relationships between humans and non-humans. But an examination of the diversity of these tools quickly reveals the difficulty in producing shared representations of biodiversity. This heterogeneity opens an investigation into the often implicit ways in which these tools shape our thinking and conceptions of the multi-species city.   Working with diversity: Operators sensitive to non-human life in urban and architectural projects In this series of four podcasts, we invite you to delve into the work of Léone, a researcher at the agency, who recently defended her CIFRE PhD thesis in Science and Technology Studies, supervised by Jérôme Denis at the Centre for the Sociology of Innovation (École des Mines, Université PSL). A series presented by Léone-Alix Mazaud and Jasmine Léonardon. Editing: Théa Lingrand.

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Beautiful like an encounter on the glass roof of colored clouds

Daniel Buren, Philippe Chiambaretta

Vidéo

Beautiful like an encounter on the glass roof of colored clouds

For Daniel Buren, architecture is an open-air studio. In an exclusive interview with architect Philippe Chiambaretta, he talks about his site-specific work, where art and architecture meet, just like the Nuages Colorés that cover the scales of the 175 Haussmann glass roof.

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Podcast

“ Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing our relation to history, giving us access to previously indecipherable archives. ”

Using AI to tell history

Raphaël Doan

Podcast

“ Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing our relation to history, giving us access to previously indecipherable archives. ”

Using AI to tell history

On February 10 and 11, France hosted the Summit for Action on Artificial Intelligence, bringing together international companies and heads of state to identify the potential and limits (notably environmental) of this tool. This is an opportunity for us to discuss the subject of generative AI with Raphaël Doan, a specialist in the sciences of Antiquity and author of the uchronia Si Rome n’avait pas chuté (If Rome hadn’t fallen), an essay imagining, with the help of AI, what might have happened if the Industrial Revolution had taken place under the Roman Empire. Through this experiment, fascinating possibilities for historical and archaeological research are outlined, as AI facilitates the processing of archives, the translation of lost languages and the deciphering of burnt texts. Read here the transcription of our interview with Raphaël Doan

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Inhabiting Sentinel Landscapes

Matthieu Duperrex

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Inhabiting Sentinel Landscapes

A philosopher and senior lecturer at the National School of Architecture of Marseille, Matthieu Duperrex explores ‘sentinel landscapes’—polluted soils, engineered rivers, industrial port zones—from a decolonial, multidisciplinary perspective attentive to the various ways of narrating the damaged world we have inherited. He regards these sites both as places of warning and as spaces of knowledge.

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Article

Capturing the Cityscape Through Photography

Émilie d'Orgeix, Corinne Feïss-Jehel, Pierre-Jérôme Jehel

Article

Capturing the Cityscape Through Photography

Over the span of several months, students from GOBELINS Paris scouted La Défense, examining the iconic business district from the fresh perspective of urban metabolism. As part of a documentary workshop led by Pierre-Jérôme Jehel and Laetitia Guillemin (GOBELINS) and designed in partnership with researchers from the City-Metabolism Chair at PSL University, some thirty students explored this territory. They did so by treating it not as a mere backdrop but as a living organism, traversed by flows, tensions, and rhythms, using photography as a tool for revelation. Their projects, located at the crossroads of artistic creation and research, unveil an alternative reading of this mineral space, between invisible flows and underlying tensions. Both sensitive and rigorous, this inquiry is chronicled here by Corinne Feïss Jehel (EPHE-PSL), Pierre-Jérôme Jehel, and Émilie d’Orgeix (EPHE-PSL) as part of a research project conducted by the City-Metabolism Chair (which is financially supported by PCA-STREAM, Artelia, and Groupama Immobilier).

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Vidéo

"For an open architecture"

Jean-Baptiste de Froment

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"For an open architecture"

On the occasion of its integration into the Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL) university consortium, the École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Paris-Malaquais is publishing a manifesto that asserts its institutional positioning. Far more than a mere text, this manifesto lays the foundations for a committed academic vision, emphasizing the urgent need to train architects engaged in transforming the ways we inhabit the world. Structured around twelve key concepts, it is intended as a compass to guide the school’s pedagogical and strategic choices, in alignment with the 2025–2029 National Strategy for Architecture. In this interview, its director, Jean-Baptiste de Froment, reflects on the values driving this project and on how the school positions itself as a proactive agent of thought and action within the contemporary architectural landscape.

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Article

The potential of the night

PCA-STREAM

Article

The potential of the night

Once a sanctuary for dreams and imagination, nighttime has now been relegated to the mere role of a utilitarian prelude to daytime. Nocturnal realms possess an alchemical power capable of transfiguring our perceptions. However, when viewed through the lens of urban uses, the night also exacerbates inequalities and raises questions about the possibility of achieving an urban night that is accessible to everyone. Exploring the range of possibilities associated with the night reveals it as a space-time where complex interactions are woven that could be revitalized through a chronotopic and inclusive architecture.

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