The duo, whose “never tear down” ethos has revived pre-existing urban architecture, will receive the 2021 Pritzker Prize at a ceremony later this year, organizers announced Tuesday.
Born in France and Morocco respectively, Lacaton and Vassal met as students in Bordeaux before co-founding the Paris-based practice Lacaton & Vassal in 1987. Together they have designed a number of important cultural and educational buildings, including the Nantes Riverfront School of Architecture Campus, completed in 2009, and an ambitious 2012 expansion of the Palais de Tokyo art gallery in Paris, expanding the museum with 20,000 square meters (215,000 square feet) increased in size.
Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France Credit: Thanks to Philippe Ruault
But it is their work in the renovation of post-war social housing in France that has received most of the acclaim from the industry, including the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture and the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Award. Their 2004 “Plus” manifesto, co-written with architect Frédéric Druot, lobbied the French government to renovate rather than destroy the country’s public housing with the mantra: “Never demolish, never remove or replace, always add,” transform and reuse! “
The approach has resulted in the rejuvenation of several large residential blocks in danger of demolition, as French urban policy in the 2000s sought to tear down and rebuild obsolete public housing projects rather than improve them. In 2011, Lacaton, Vassal and Druot completed the transformation of the Tour Bois le Prêtre, a run-down 1960s residential project in the north of Paris. By replacing the facade of the building, the architects not only increased the square footage of each of the 96 units, but also added modern features such as terraces and large windows.
Anne Lacaton and Philippe Vassal Credit: Thanks to Laurent Chalet
The trio later completed a large-scale renovation of another Bordeaux social housing development, modernizing and expanding the 560 apartments without crowding out the current residents. According to a press release announcing the 2021 Pritzker laureates, their work was completed at a third of the cost of demolishing and rebuilding the three blocks from scratch.
Demolish an ‘act of violence’
Lacaton and Vassal’s other large-scale renovation projects in France have also converted an old factory into a private residence in Bordeaux and a disused shipbuilding workshop into a gallery and office space in Dunkirk.
“Transformation is the opportunity to do more and better with what already exists,” said Lacaton in a press release announcing this year’s Pritzker laureates. “The demolition is a decision of convenience and short-lived. It is a waste of many things – a waste of energy, a waste of material and a waste of history. Moreover, it has a very negative social impact. For us, it is an act of violence. “
Tour Bois le Prêtre, Paris, France Credit: Thanks to Philippe Ruault
First awarded to celebrated modernist Philip Johnson in 1979, the Pritzker Prize recognizes the work of a living architect, or architects, who demonstrate a combination of “talent, vision and dedication,” the organizers said. Although traditionally awarded to one architect, several duos have received the award in recent years, starting with Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron in 2001.
House in Bordeaux Credit: Thanks to Philippe Ruault
The jurors said Lacaton and Vassal’s approach “ reinvigorates 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, making architecture as strong in its forms as it is in its beliefs, as transparent in its aesthetics as it is in its ethics.”
The 10-member jury – made up of architects, educators and an associate US Supreme Court judge Stephen Breyer – also called the pair for “expanding the notion of sustainability,” saying the two architects “refuse any opposition between architectural quality. , environmental responsibility and the quest for an ethical society. “
Top image: The redeveloped social housing project in the 1960s Grand Parc in Bordeaux, France.