Imaginaires de Transformation : Lacaton & Vassal et Frédéric Druot

Architects Anne Lacaton, Jean-Philippe Vassal, and Frédéric Druot strongly opposed the French government’s policy of demolishing and rebuilding social housing, introduced in 2003, choosing instead to transform existing buildings. For them, transformation means, above all, changing the way we look at architecture and the city.

The film follows a free-flowing conversation between the three architects, interspersed with footage from the construction site of Cité du Grand Parc in Bordeaux. Here, three residential blocks from the 1960s were extended rather than demolished: a prefabricated structure was added to the existing façades, extending each apartment by almost four metres, without requiring residents to move out during construction.

In 2019, the project was awarded the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award.

The film is screened alongside Fernand Pouillon, France’s Most Wanted Architect.