Pritzker Prize 2021: Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal receive the “Nobel Prize in Architecture”

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Composed of Oscar Holland, CNN

Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, known for transforming and revitalizing neglected buildings throughout France, have been named winners of the Nobel Prize-winning architecture equivalent.

The duo, whose ethos “never demolished” has given new life to pre-existing urban architecture, will receive the Pritzker 2021 award at 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 Paris practice Lacaton & Vassal in 1987. Together, they designed a number of major cultural and educational buildings, including The school of Nantes. The riverside architecture campus, completed in 2009, and an ambitious expansion in 2012 of the Palais de Tokyo art gallery in Paris, which saw the museum grow by 20,000 square meters (215,000 square meters).

Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France

Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France Credit: The kindness of Philippe Ruault

But their work to renovate social housing buildings in post-war France has attracted the most applause from the industry, including the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture and the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Award. Their 2004 “Plus” manifesto, written with architect Frédéric Druot, put pressure on the French government to recondition 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 led to the rejuvenation of several major residential blocks threatened by demolition, as French urban planning policies in the 2000s sought to demolish and rebuild older public housing projects rather than improve them. In 2011, Lacaton, Vassal and Druot completed the transformation of the Tour Bois le Prêtre, a 1960s residential project in northern 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

Anne Lacaton and Philippe Vassal Credit: The kindness of Laurent Chalet

The trio subsequently completed a large-scale overhaul 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 Pritzker laureates in 2021, their work was completed at a third of the cost of demolition and reconstruction of the three blocks from scratch.

Demolition of an “act of violence”

Other large-scale renovation projects in France, Lacaton and Vassal, saw them transform an old factory into a private residence in Bordeaux and a disused shipbuilding workshop into a gallery and office space in Dunkirk.

“Transformation is an opportunity to do more and better with what already exists,” Lacaton said in a press release announcing this year’s Pritzker laureates. “Demolition is an easy and short-term decision. 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 “.

Bois le Prêtre tour, Paris, France

Bois le Prêtre tour, Paris, France Credit: The kindness of Philippe Ruault

Awarded for the first time to the famous modernist Philip Johnson in 1979, the Pritzker Prize recognizes the work of a living architect or architects, who show a combination of “talent, vision and commitment”, according to the 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.

Japanese duo Ryue Nishizawa and Kazuyo Sejima were jointly named Pritzker laureates in 2010, while Irish architects Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara took home the award last year. In 2017, Spanish architects Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem and Ramon Vilalta became the first trio to win the award.
Tuesday’s announcement makes Lacaton the sixth woman named Pritzker laureate, although architects Denise Scott Brown and Lu Wenyu have also been asked to be recognized retrospectively along with their award-winning husbands and design partners Robert Venturi and Wang Shu.
House in Bordeaux

House in Bordeaux Credit: The kindness of Philippe Ruault

The award judges said the Lacaton and Vassal approach revived “modernist hopes and dreams of improving the lives of many.” The jury’s quote continued: “They achieve this through a strong sense of space and materials that creates architecture as strong in its forms as in its beliefs, as transparent in aesthetics as in ethics.”

The panel of 10 people – which included architects, educators and an associate judge of the US Supreme Court, Stephen Breyer – also credited the pair for “extending the notion of sustainability”, saying that the two architects “refuse any opposition between architectural quality, environmental responsibility and the pursuit of an ethical society. “

Jury President Alejandro Aravena, himself a Pritzker Prize winner in 2016, meanwhile said in a press statement that Lacaton and Vassal are “radical in their delicacy and bold in their subtlety, balancing a respectful but simple approach to the built environment. ”.
Although the vast majority of Lacaton and Vassal’s work took place in France, they also worked on projects in Switzerland and Senegal, where a hotel designed by their company is currently under construction.

Top image: 1960s Grand Parc social parking project in Bordeaux, France.

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