Life cycles

Article
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.

Discover
Podcast

“ Exchanges of material flows are territorialized: in this sense, they are part of systems of power. ”

Urban metabolism, at the heart of the matter

Clément Dillenseger, Pierre Desvaux

Podcast

“ Exchanges of material flows are territorialized: in this sense, they are part of systems of power. ”


Urban metabolism, at the heart of the matter

When we speak of urban metabolism, we are generally referring to the materials that enter and leave the city organism. Among these, waste plays a decisive role, challenging our understanding of what is clean and what is dirty, what is at the end of its life and what can be reused, what is new and what is outdated. Thus, studied from a qualitative rather than quantitative approach, waste reveals a great deal about our urban imaginations, which differ from country to country across the globe. This is what geographers Clément Dillenseger and Pierre Desvaux explain in Métabolisme(s). Matière en circulation, matière en transformation [Metabolism. Circulating matter, transformed matter] (co-authored with Laëtitia Mongeard, published by Éditions deux-cent-cinq). Read the podcast’s transcript.

Discover
Vidéo

Minh Nguyễn, Yoann Malinge

Vidéo

Reusing turbine blades : the winds of change

The growth in energy consumption and the obsolescence of our infrastructures suggest that by 2030, we’ll have a stock of 60,000 tonnes of end-of-life wind turbines per year. To absorb this material on an industrial scale, we need to invent new ways of producing, consuming and building. With this in mind, the La Paletière project aims to reuse turbine blades – composite materials with multiple properties – by turning them into roofing elements.

Discover

360

  • Paris
  • 2025
  • Work in progress
  • Paris
  • 2025
  • Work in progress
360

360 is part of the dynamic revitalization of the Plateau district and the future prospect of a pacification of the ring road. The project rehabilitates three office buildings from the 1980s that no longer meet current needs and expectations. Its remarkable location and accessibility, at the head of the ring road, at the border of Vanves and Paris, invited an ambitious rehabilitation to develop comfortable, efficient and innovative spaces, while adapting the building to contemporary environmental issues.

Discover
Vidéo

Aurélie Mossé

Vidéo

Working with living matter

Aurélie Mossé is a designer, researcher and head of the Soft Matters research group at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs. Using micro-organisms, she is experimenting with the manufacture of innovative materials that are less costly in terms of fossil fuels or non-renewable resources. By producing calcite, bacteria could become allies in the creation of solid building materials.

Discover
Vidéo

Léonie Debrabandère

Vidéo

Is the city going round in circles?

Léonie Debrabandère is the Director of the WAAO, Lille’s architecture center, and curator of the exhibition “La ville tourne en rond?” How can we get away from anthropocentric, productivist logics and create a city that self-regulates, regenerates and recycles itself? The exhibition takes us on a semantic and tangible exploration of the circular city, allowing anyone to implement re-usable solutions on all scales.

Discover

stream voices

Eager to share more generously the results of its collaborations and research, PCA-STREAM publishes STREAM VOICES, its online magazine!

Discover Stream Voices