Lacaton & Vassal

French architects Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal have been announced as the 2021 laureates of the Pritzker architecture prize - the award often referred to as architecture’s highest honour. Since 1987, the duo’s firm, Lacaton & Vassal, has completed a good number of projects throughout Europe and West Africa. The architects are known for their ability to increase living space exponentially and inexpensively, through winter gardens and balconies that enable inhabitants to conserve energy and access to nature throughout the year. Meanwhile, adhering to a precept of ‘never demolish’, the studio undertakes restrained interventions to upgrade dated infrastructure while allowing the enduring properties of a building to remain.
Anne Lacaton
Born: 2 August 1955, Saint-Pardoux-la-Rivière, Dordogne France.
Graduation: École nationale supérieure d'architecture et de paysage de Bordeaux, 1980
Master's degree: Urban Planning, University of Bordeaux III, 1984
From 1982 to 1988: Researcher and architect for the laboratory and the educational workshop of Arc en rêve centre for architecture in Bordeaux
Jean-Philippe Vassal
Born: 22 February 1954, Casablanca, Morocco
Graduation: École nationale supérieure d'architecture et de paysage de Bordeaux, 1980
Relocated: Niger, West Africa, where he worked as an architect-urban planner from 1980 to 1985.
Design philosophy:
Use what is there, stay simple, embrace the outdoors and honour light, freedom and grace
The idea of ​​adding and not demolishing to build something very similar is something that, in the end, significantly reduces the impact of its constructions, in an industry that generates enormous amounts of waste. Reusing structures exploring their potential and recycling materials whenever possible are key points in their work.
'Build generous spaces at the lowest possible cost, with a sense of economy that does not renounce comfort and beauty. Spend the minimum to get the maximum,' comments Anne Lacaton in a lecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Celebrated for placing sustainability and humanity at the heart of their practice, Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal are the prestigious Pritzker Prize for Architecture laureates of 2021.
At a time when construction is still generating almost 40% of all waste to landfill globally, and when governments are recognizing the challenges of resource efficiency in the push to achieve sustainability goals, their maxim of “never demolish, always transform” strikes a resounding note in favour of circular construction.
Awards:
Lacaton & Vassal was nominated in 1997 for the 5th prize of the European Union for contemporary architecture Mies-van-der-Rohe in Barcelona.
They received the national grand prize for Young Talent architecture, from the Ministry of Culture, in 1999; almost ten years later, they won the 2008 Grand Prix National de l'Architecture.
In 2018, the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture rewarded their sustainable approach to enhancing buildings and promoting ownership by residents.
In March 2021, Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal were awarded the Pritzker Prize for the entire body of their work.
and more
Notable works:
Latapie house, Floirac [1993]
Centre de jour pour post-adolescents, Bègles [1994]
Archeological Museum, Saintes [1995]
Place Aucoc, Bordeaux (1996)
Pierre-Mendès-France University of Grenoble [first stage, 1995 / second stage, 2001] nomination for the Équerre d'argent du Moniteur.
House in Dordogne [1997]
House in Lège -Cap-Ferret [1998]
House in Coutras [2000]
Contemporary creation exhibit space in the Palais de Tokyo, Paris [2001]
Café Una de l’Architekturzentrum, Vienna [2001]
Office building, Nantes [2001]
Residential building, Floirac [études en cours, 2003]
Residential building, Cité manifeste à Mulhouse [2005], awarded the label ‘Architecture contemporaine remarquable’ in July 2015
House, Keremma [2005]
University building for management studies, Bordeaux [2006]
Cave Castelmaure, Embres-et-Castelmaure [2007]
Exhibition hall, Paris Nord Villepinte [2007]
School of Architecture, Nantes [2009)
Transformation de la tour Bois-le-Prêtre, Paris [2009]; Équerre d'argent [2011]
Aménagement des friches du Palais de Tokyo, Paris [2012]
FRAC Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Dunkerque [2013]
Le Grand Sud, polyvalent hall, Lille [2013]
GHI-Quartier du Grand Parc: transformation of 3 towers that had been slated for demolition, Bordeaux [2016]
Quotes:
“Each flat has to become a villa, it means that each flat has no more to stay behind a window but in front of each window it has to be now a new door, opening to a very large balcony-winter garden. And at this moment the relation between inside, outside totally changes and you are no more in a flat, you are in a villa.”
Philippe Vassal