Anne Lacaton (born in 1955) & Jean Philippe Vassal (born in 1954) are among the most talented and imaginative architects of their generation. In 1987, in Bordeaux, they funded a business together. Before receiving the National Grand Prix in architecture on July 2, 2008, they received in 1999 the National Grand Prix of Young Talents of the Ministry of Culture and Communication. They were nominated several times for the Equerre d’Argent du Moniteur: in 1996 (University of Pierre-Mendès-France of Grenoble), 1999 (house in Lège-Cap-Ferret) and 2001 (Tokyo Palace in Paris). They were also several times finalists of the prize Mies van der Rohe. Their “minimalist” approach explores the pressures of construction and transforms them into creative energy: they optimise all means available – the budget, the techniques, the materials, and the natural environment – with the main goal to contribute to the well-being of those who inhabit their buildings. Freedom is a fundamental aspect of their work: free-up spaces, modulate volumes, adopt strategies for transformation and leave the possibilities up to the building, according to them, for radically changing its purpose. Their aesthetics meets their ethics: simplicity, efficiency, harmony, and change – among generations, social environments, cultures. Their projects touch individual habitats, social housings, and public offices. The School of Architecture in Nantes, like the Latapie house in Floirac or the social housing built for the “City is manifesting” in Mulhouse, their next project is a major one, positioned along the flow of their work with strictness and demand, the work they carry out for about ten years. The exhibition illustrates the major interests of Lacaton & Vassal: offer more space, more comfort, and more life qualities for users; expand the existing by saving space and means; renovate and reuse for improvement. It presents their idea about architecture of what it can take on and how it can give answers when confronted with social emergencies and housing crises. The exhibition presents their recent work by showing their practical architecture, real ethical posture between recycling and technological innovation. Built like their realizations, using themes as building material, implementing in design and scenography the ideas and structuring references of the architectural work via different materials: films, clips, reportages, slide shows, photographs, plans, and sketches.

Exhibition designed and realized by the City of architecture & patrimony / French Institute of Architecture, with the assistance of Technal.
The scenography is signed by the architects.
City of architecture & patrimony – Palais de Chaillot – Pavillon de tête
High Gallery of temporary exhibitions/ 1place du Trocadero - Paris 16e (Mo Trocadero)/ Open every day from 11h to 19 h – Open in the evening on Thursday until 21h – Closed on Tuesday / Entrance fee/ www.citechaillot.fr