The duo, whose ethos has never “demolished” has given new life to pre-existing urban architecture, will receive the 2021 Pritzker Prize in a ceremony later this year, organizers announced on Tuesday.
Born in France and Morocco, respectively, Lacaton and Vassal met as students in Bordeaux before co-founding the Parisian practice Lacaton & Vassal in 1987. Together they have designed several important cultural and educational buildings, including the Nantes school. The Architecture Shore campus, completed in 2009, and an ambitious 2012 expansion of the Palais Art Gallery in Tokyo, Paris, saw the museum grow by 20,000 square meters (215,000 square feet).
Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France Credit: Courtesy of Philippe Ruault
But it is his work to renovate post-war social housing buildings in France that has attracted the most praise from the industry, including the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture and the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Award. His 2004 “Plus” manifesto, written alongside architect Frédéric Druot, pressured the French government to reform, instead of razing, the country’s public housing with the mantra: “Never demolish, never remove nor replace, always add, transform and reuse! “
The approach has resulted in the rejuvenation of several major residential blocks threatened with demolition, as French urban policies in the 2000s attempted to demolish and rebuild aging public housing projects rather than improve them. In 2011, Lacaton, Vassal and Druot completed the transformation of the Tour Bois le Prêtre, a summary of the 1960s residential project north of Paris. By replacing the facade of the building, the architects not only increased the square area of each of the 96 units, but also added modern features such as terraces and large windows.
Anne Lacaton and Philippe Vassal Credit: Courtesy of Laurent Chalet
The trio later completed a large-scale refurbishment of another social housing development in Bordeaux, modernizing and expanding its 560 apartments without displacing its current residents. According to a press release announcing the 2021 Pritzker Prize winners, their work was completed at a third of the cost of demolishing and rebuilding the three blocks from scratch.
The demolition of an “act of violence”
Lacaton and Vassal’s other large-scale renovation projects in France have also seen them turn an old factory into a private residence in Bordeaux and a disused shipbuilding workshop into a gallery and office in Dunkirk.
“Transformation is the opportunity to do more and better with what already exists,” Lacaton says in a press release announcing this year’s Pritzker Prize winners. “Demolition is a simple and short-term decision. It is a waste of many things: a waste of energy, a waste of material and a loss of history. In addition, it has a very negative social impact. to us, it is an act of violence. “
Tour Bois le Prêtre, Paris, France Credit: Courtesy of Philippe Ruault
The Pritzker Prize, first awarded to the famous modernist Philip Johnson in 1979, recognizes the work of a living architect, or architects, who display a combination of “talent, vision and commitment,” according to organizers. Although traditionally awarded to a single architect, several duos have taken home the award in recent years, starting with Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron in 2001.
House in Bordeaux Credit: Courtesy of Philippe Ruault
The award judges said Lacaton and Vassal’s approach invigorated “the modernist hopes and dreams of improving the lives of many.” The jury’s quote continued: “They achieve this through a powerful sense of space and materials that creates an architecture as strong in its forms as in its convictions, as transparent in its aesthetics as in its ethics.”
The 10-person jury, which included architects, educators and an associate judge of the U.S. Supreme Court, Stephen Breyer, also credited the couple for “broadening the notion of sustainability,” saying the two architects “reject any opposition.” between architectural quality, environmental responsibility and the pursuit of an ethical society “.
Top image: the social housing project of the Grand Parc of the sixties in Bordeaux, France, rebuilt.