PUBLIC + PARIS
Why PUBLIC…Why EUROPE…Why NOW… PUBLIC Journal provides an unprecedented platform for conversations we all can have on subjects we are all concerned by, and solutions we can all help identify and participate in. European cities have responded with progressive leadership to issues of social inequality, environmental concerns, and considerations of personal and public space for decades. PUBLIC Journal seeks to celebrate forward-thinking solutions to difficult problems by spreading the word so that the global community can benefit from European ingenuity. We begin with our PUBLIC + PARIS edition; subsequent issues will focus on other major cities within Europe and globally. JOIN US FOR THE LAUNCH OF OUR FIRST EUROPEAN EDITION ~WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF~
ATRIA
E XECUTIVE S ALON & P ROJECT A CCELERATOR F OR
L EADERS & V ISIONARIES
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
DEPARTMENTS PUBLIC + Paris 2016 Cover Image: Paul Robinson Hailed by The New York Press as the Helmut Newton of the photography world’s new “Brat Pack,” world renowned photographer PAUL ROBINSON continues to take art photography to new heights. Without formal training, Robinson began as a self-taught fashion photographer in Paris. After carving out a name for himself within the art community, Paul then parlayed his work shooting stills of Oprah for various commercials into doing unit photography on various feature films. Through his work in the film industry, Robinson became recognized as one of the most talented celebrity portrait photographers and was featured in some of the market’s top magazines. Paul Robinson’s work has often been described as aggressive, sexual and unapologetic. His first exhibit, “Voyeur,” became one of the hottest events in L.A. and New York as the guest lists became a virtual “who’s who” of the creative community. Combining a varied collection of black and white photos, the exhibit featured celebrity portraits of the young hot actors of today shot in a 1940s style, a jazz series of intimate moments with legendary musicians, and original, definitive images. PaulRobinsonArt.com
16 News
Public interest design tidbits from around the world.
32 Culture - The Rise of the “Noir Wave” By Nelly Wandji
38 Editorial - The SEIN
An interview with Olivier Mousson
42 PUBLIC Opinion - Revolution by Design By Edward Sihlo
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The Rise of the “Noir Wave”
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The SEIN
54 Editorial - Ghislaine Hierso An Interview by Ghislaine Hierso
58 Technically PUBLIC - Balancing Material, conservation, and Reuse By Kyle Normandin
62 Feature - The Beauty of Greater Paris By Bertrand Lemoine
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The intersection of arts and politics. By Casie Stone
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NAVAL ARCHITECTURE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT By Marc Van Peteghem
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Publisher Matthew Linden Editor-in-Chief Jacqueline Devereaux Business Director Greg Linden Content Editor Danielle Littman Graphic Designer Natahly Thomas Social Media Director Kristin Larson Contributing Writers Bertrand Lemoine Charles Peronnin Oliver Mousson Aline Rutily Allan Co Casie Stone Ghislaine Hierso Marc Van Peteghem Nelly Wandji Paul Keskys Edward Silhol Kyle Normandin Translators Gregoire Dubourq Pauline Herbelot Maximilien de Léséleuc Benoit Martinengo
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Share your thoughts with us by email at letters@ thisispublicjournal.com. Letters may be edited for content and length and published in future issues or online on our blog. PROJECTS Do you have a project that you think would be a wonderful addition to our content either online or in our quarterly journal? Send your ideas to editor@thisispublicjournal.com. Include your contact information so our team can get back to you about the project. ARTICLES If you have an idea about an article, please send it to our editors with a brief description and writing samples of your previous work. You can reach our editors at editor@thisispublicjournal.com.
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TO OUR READERS As we have endeavored to gather interesting and inspiring projects to include in our pages over the last few years, we have been struck by how many different types of projects can be housed under the umbrella of Public Interest Design (PID). The movement is young and still defining itself, and as such, it can mean different things to different people. PUBLIC’s editor, Jacqueline Devereaux, felt it imperative that we ask a question of issue’s contributors, “What PID project are you inspired by now?” You will find their responses - as vast, varied, and inspired as they are - in the pages that follow. This has served to emphasize the importance PUBLIC can provide: a window into this movement, a platform to shape and define it, and ultimately, an inspiration for more of these worthwhile projects to be realized. That is what we are attempting to do with our Journal. For this edition PUBLIC has forged a new partnership with ATRIA, a unique and varied membership-based community of innovator’s, self-proclaimed as “Executive Salon & Project Accelerator for Leaders & Visionaries” ATRIA has participated in creating PUBLIC+Paris issue - bringing their particular perspective to this conversation and involving many of their extraordinary collaborators as contributors. This edition is organized around the concept of the “reinvention” of Paris and it emphasize Public Interest Design projects in and around greater Paris, as well as the view of PID concerns from a particularly French perspective. Each of our editions have highlighted projects from around the world, and this is no exception. As PUBLIC evolves, gains momentum, and aligns itself with like-minded contributors and organizations, we seek to broaden the scope of our coverage. While design for the public interest necessitates a very local conversation, where much of the good work is being done by individuals impassioned by making a difference close to home - it is also a wide and inclusive phenomena that has people stretching far from their comfort zone to make a difference for others all over the world. It is at the same time local and international - but it is ultimately human - there is something that resonates for each of us, to our very core. Matthew Linden Founder & Publisher
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PUBLIC TEAM PUBLIC JOURNAL WOULD LIKE TO THANK THIS ISSUE’S TEAM FOR THEIR DEDICATION.
“WHY DID YOU JOIN THE PUBLIC TEAM?” Matthew Linden, Founder & Publisher
Jacqueline Devereaux, Editor-in-Chief
Greg Linden, Business Director
To influence a generation of Public Interest Design activists such that their work have a lasting effect on the people and communities for whom they are designed and built.
To inspire myself and others to make Public Interest Design a priority. As designers we have to take ownership and a larger responsibility to design for the best of the community not any individual or single-entity. PUBLIC is an opportunity for me to play my role within - and further the Public-Interest Design Movement.
Now is the time to act. Now is the time to be part of a movement whose sole objective is to improve the quality of life for people on this planet. With persistence we can do this.
Natahly Thomas, Graphic Designer
Kristin Larson, Social Media Director
Danielle Littman, Content Editor
I joined the PUBLIC team so that I could be a part of a movement that truly cares about humanitarianism and activism within the architecture and design community. I m proud to be able to contribute to a platform that makes accessing that information available for all.
To join like-minded individuals committed to assisting communities thru socially responsible design and to promote the humanitarian side of architecture.
I joined the PUBLIC team because I believe in the power of asset-based processes that value community input design thinking and collaboration - PUBLIC stands for all of these things and brings together people from around the world that do as well. I love asking difficult questions with all of these people.
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CONTRIBUTORS PUBLIC JOURNAL WOULD LIKE TO THANK THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS FOR THEIR DEDICATION.
What is a public interest design project that is inspiring you right now? Aline Rutily I follow closely the way the improvement of the transportation system is currently being carried out in the suburbs of Paris by the Societe du Grand Paris and their partners. The undergoing plan is a major opportunity to improve the lives of millions of families, create tens of thousands of jobs, to establish a better distribution of wealth between the various suburban areas, and position France as a leader in innovative urban solutions.
Charles Peronnin Paris is undergoing an unprecedented urban transformation on a number of scales, led by a flurry of innovative Public-Private Partnership initiatives, some of which are touched upon in this issue of PUBLIC. The latest and possibly most interesting might be Reinventer La Seine which seeks to transform tens of waterfront sites running from Paris all the way to the rivermouth in Le Havre in an effort to improve local public spaces by leveraging the formidable asset of the Seine river.
Nelly Wandji
Allan Co I find Brooklyn Bridge Park inspiring because it’s a great example of a collaborative partnership between the public and private sector on an evolving project. The landscape architect has been able to navigate a tricky framework of changing demands and priorities from homeowners while responding to the need for inclusive programming and design excellence. And it’s beautiful!
Casie Stone What is inspiring me in the world of architecture are projects where designers are reclaiming public spaces. I think it’s important for communities to have welcoming public spaces, both for civic engagement but also space to re-engage with the natural world around us. One project in particular that is inspiring me is the Dialogue Centre Przełomy at Solidarity Square in Szczecin, Poland - a new city plaza at street level, yet on top of two subterranean floors of exhibition space dedicated to the history of the city, providing space for people to gather, children to play, all while being rooted in the collective memory of past struggles.
Marc Van Peteghem
Design for Peace, which aims at providing a means to livelihood to refugees in Burkina Faso.The current refugee crisis is creating tensions globally; some people are still crossing seas to seek wealth and growth in Europe & America. Design for Peace is the proof that wealth and growth is where you create it. By connecting 17 craftmen and 6 young designers, Design for Peace aims at creating value in Ouagadougou while providing means to self-reliance & livelihood to 200 refugees and their families.
Helping young people to understand the unicity of life by all means and as early as possible is a very important and inspirational subject.
Edward Silhol
Bertrand Lemoine
I am an artist and entrepreneur. A native of France, I traveled for years and I am constantly amazed by the diversity of cultures around the world. I am very happy to contribute to the cause I believe that design is our century and the great opportunity of civilization. I strongly stand by Michael Porter, the concept of “shared value”: we all have much more in common than we think.
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Inventons la Métropole du Grand Paris” is a call for generosity from the designers to invent innovative concepts, new spaces, new uses, and new services for the Grand Paris by favoring functional mixed-use and reversibility, within 112 sites put forward by 75 towns.
Olivier Mousson The 2025 Eiffel Tower project ! As part of the french candidacy for organizing the universal exhibition in 2025, the Société d’Encouragement pour l’Industrie Nationale supports the amazing and symbolic project of the « Globe ». France, which wishes to plan this exhibition around fairness and sharing, offers a project which is not yet in its construction phase because the technological mutations of the 10 next years will be far richer than the past 10.
Ghislaine Hierso I am pleased to participate in this 5th edition of PUBLIC Journal for several reasons. Each of us should be concerned by the topics covered, the beautifully creative layout of architects, designers, and planners in their excellence, the taking into account of the human space and of social and environmental concerns; a “contributive” approach as Bernard Stiegler would say.
Paul Keskeys Tatiana Bilbao’s affordable housing prototype for Mexico is a breath of fresh air in a world that is so transfixed by the perpetual acquisition of wealth. Bilbao has devised a simple structure that can be bought and assembled for just 8,000 dollars, but can also be expanded and adapted in countless ways as a family grows. The project’s presentation is playful, while its potential is profound. Architecture like this illuminates how design can be the catalyst for positive social change on a global scale.
Kyle Normandin The Teak Window Conservation Project at Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. We have been working with the Salk Institute for 3 years to develop a program for conservation of the original teak Windows. The institute was originally designed by Louis Kahn for Jonas Salk who discovered the polio vaccine in the 1960s.
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The 2025 Eiffel Tower “Globe” Project Image: Sensual City Studio
SPECIAL THANKS PUBLIC JOURNAL WOULD LIKE TO THANK THIS ISSUE’S FRENCH TRANSLATORS FOR THEIR ASSISTANCE AND DEDICATION
Grégoire Benoit
Pauline
Pauline Herbelot
Grégoire Dubourq
Pauline is a young architect recently graduated from the National Superior School of Architecture Malaquais in Paris. Her professional experience and her interest in ecology and climate change have focused sustainable approach to architecture.
Gregory is architect BIM Manager graduated in 2014 from the National School of Architecture of Val de Seine in Paris. After a year of experience his interest in the digital evolution of architecture led him to undertake vocational training on BIM at the Ecole de Ponts et Chaussés and ESTP. Today he works with a Parisian architecture firm specializing in aquatic equipment.
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Born in 1984 in Paris Benoit grew up in Geneva Switzerland. After spending several years at the international school where he picked up English at a very young age Benoit moved back to Paris where he completed his education obtaining a Master s degree in international trade. In 2009 Benoit joined WAD magazine as an account executive but was soon instinctively diverted to the fashion department where he started assisting the fashion editor less than a year later. In late 2011 Benoit went on styling as a freelance and began assisting Fashion Director of NUMÉRO Homme Serge Girardi.
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Maximilien de Léséleuc Maximilien
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Maximilien de Léséleuc comes from Paris lived in California and is now installed in Germany. Passionate about news technologies and travels his curiosity is bringing him all over the world in perpetual search of new horizons.
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NEWS | Impact Design Hub
NEWS HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PAST QUARTER. PROVIDED BY IMPACTDESIGNHUB.ORG,
Breaking Ground: Reducing Health Care Costs Through Supportive Housing 08.23 Vanessa Quirk of Metropolis recently sat down with Brenda Rosen President and CEO of Breaking Ground the New York City-based organization providing supportive housing to low-income and formerly homeless adults many of whom suffer from mental or physical conditions about the organization s latest South Bronx-based project Boston Road. Breaking Ground s supportive housing couples affordable housing with on-site services to address mental and physical health
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job-training and substance abuse and is based on a belief that addressing housing needs first will greatly increase the likelihood that individuals in precarious states of shelter can achieve sobriety and gain employment ultimately using housing to reduce health care and social services costs.
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Architecture s response to crises can be slow but it s still valuable writes Mimi Zeiger for Dezeen. With what feels like a constant barrage of bad news creative industries respond in different ways. Design can respond quickly and designers have been involved since the beginning in the Black Lives Matter protests and the responses to Brexit. But architecture is slower and Zeiger notes the frustration of feeling unable to quantify a response to news of violence.
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Reimagining Civic Architecture 08.19
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Writing for Metropolis Magazine Aaron Betsky discusses the state of civic architecture in a time when governmental interaction has been relegated to the Internet and the grandiose structures of civic architecture s past become difficult and costly to maintain.
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+Acumen’s ChangeMakers Summer Reading List ListIndividuality 08.17 Are you looking for fresh inspiration to drive your creativity and keep your skills sharp this summer? +Acumen has published their summer reading list, which is geared toward social changemakers, entrepreneurs and problemsolvers. In this line of work, it’s crucial to be a lifelong learner and continue viewing evolving issues from different angles, and that context drives the variety in +Acumen’s list.
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EOOS Social Furniture Design Handbook 08.16
Responding to the social and spatial needs for refugees Vienna based design agency EOOS conceptualized repurposing a former custom officer training facility into long-term accommodation for 600 asylum seekers that lacked communal spaces shared kitchens and meeting zones. As a part of the project EOOS created custom-designed furniture put together
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with the residents in an in-house workshop. Now as a part of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016 EOOS has decided to extend its Social Furniture designs beyond their original scope with the Social Furniture Handbook.
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NEWS | Impact Design Hub
Can Drones Help Development Skip Ahead in Rwanda 08.11 Technological leapfrogging is the practice of bringing advanced technology to areas lacking preexisting technologies – skipping ahead to bring about cheaper or faster solutions to pressing challenges. That’s the principle underlying the development of a droneport in Rwanda by Foster and Partners. Drone technology has a myriad of applications, but it often seems a mere curiosity amid the oversaturated technological landscape of developed countries. In contrast, drones can serve a crucial purpose in Rwanda as medical units. They also rise above – literally – the spatial challenges that can stymie development.
Airbnb Expands its Horizons to the Field of Urban Planning 08.09 In attempt to remain innovative and continue growing as a company Airbnb has recently entered the field of urban planning partnering with a small town in Japan to revitalize its community. Through Samara a new division of the company devoted to this cause Airbnb is building a community center in the town where visitors can stay just as they would in any other Airbnb property.
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New UN Innovation Lab for World Hunger 08.11
The United Nations World Food Programme recently launched the Innovation Accelerator an effort to generate ideas for ending global hunger by 2030. The program is being likened to a social version of Silicon Valley s Y Combinator that provides financial support to actualize startups. The Innovation Accelerator will fund ideas from both private companies and nonprofits paired with intensive coaching from UN partners to help test ideas for their feasibility sustainability and effectiveness.
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A 3D Printer That Can Build Houses With Mud and Straw 08.08
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World s Advanced Saving Project (WASP) debuted their oversized 3D printer BigDelta in 2015. The 40-foot-tall machine can tackle large-scale projects even something as large as a dwelling. Now the Italian company is joining forces with area craftsmen to print a prototype home in the Italian province of Ravenna.
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New Tool Illustrates Challenges of Affordable Housing Development in Game Form 08.08 Despite high demand for affordable housing developers aren t responding quickly enough by building more units. A new tool from the Urban Institute and National Housing Conference turns affordable housing construction into a game. This tool helps put players in the shoes of developers to conceptualize the challenges they face in producing affordable housing. It s not about winning though. The creators of the tool expect that players will eventually come to the conclusion that it s typically not possible to cut
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costs enough to come in under budget without major corner-cutting – outside funding is often needed.
FOR DAILY NEWS ABOUT THE FIELD, VISIT IMPACTDESIGNHUB.ORG PUBLIC
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BUSINESS | What is Atria?
WHAT IS ATRIA? An Interview with the Founders of the Organization Text: Aline Rutily & Charles Peronnin Images: Anthony Marco Co-Founder of ATRIA Prior to her role in ATRIA, Aline Rutily has over 15 years of experience as an innovative ventures developer in France and abroad. She is viewed as a networking leader and taste maker for high level international business connections. Aline was a Director of New Media in the largest French TV Channel at that time (TF1) , then Deputy CEO of Bernard Spitz Conseil advising CEOs of large French and Asian companies. She then led the expansion of small and middle size companies in Africa, Asia and Europe. She has supported the innovation and international growth of tens of entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs and CEOs. Aline has graduated from ESSEC (MBA) & Harvard Business School (PLD) She’s on the Board of ESSEC Alumni. She’s a member of the non-African Board of Efficience (largest business network between the French Diaspora and Africa) She’s a regular speaker in international conferences about innovation and communication. Co-Founder of ATRIA Charles has 10 years of experience in real estate finance and architecture project management, having worked exclusively with some of the worlds boldest real estate and design entrepreneurs on a wide range of game-changing projects. Charles began his career as an architect, working as a designer & project manager for 3 of the most prestigious architecture masters (Rem Koolhaas, Norman Foster & David Chipperfield) on offices, hotels, schools and residential projects. Following a Masters degree in Real Estate, Charles spent 3 years working in Paris on the 2 billion Euros financial structuring of a 2.6 mln sqft development for the tallest towers in Europe. The project includes high-end apartments, a luxury 5-star hotel, commercial center and offices. Charles holds a Master in Real Estate Finance & Development from Columbia and a BA in Architecture from the Architectural Association.
A private enterprise attesting to Paris as a dynamic international hub for project development In our lifetime Paris has never been so overflowing with ideas initiatives and innovations all carried by a growing community of entrepreneurial-minded people. The foundation of ATRIA and its success is a direct response to this emulation of a metropolis which is growing its human capital and game-changing projects at a rate which generates huge demand for an acceleration platform such as our own. The incubation of PUBLIC Journal Europe is a natural extension of ATRIA s mission to foster the success of cross-border initiatives.
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+ BUSINESS WHAT IS ATRIA? Aline Rutily (AR) - ATRIA is a unique community of innovative people from different sectors: entrepreneurs think tank leaders associations designers writers film producers journalists experts etc. Their common characteristic is that they are leaders and decision makers in their field on one hand and have a strong commitment to innovation on the other. We also welcome many artists from other creative industries in partnership with Adrien Moisson s Splendens Factory Adrien. My partner Charles Peronnin and I select the members of the community on the basis of proposals by the existing members and other members of the team. We run this community and assure its proper operation.
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Charles Peronnin (CP) - A third of our members are from abroad and almost our entire community is internationally-oriented in their projects. ATRIA works with a monthly subscription system that allows access to the platform of contacts but also to a set of very important services to members of our community. So we offer to members of ATRIA a set of consulting services for business: research support for new customers communications consulting or marketing and especially the organization productive meetings between members of our circle. Other services such as translation services or technical support are provided by partners we select. Part of our business model also involves organizing many events around prominent personalities (presidential candidates international investors foreign columnists successful entrepreneurs visiting Paris foreign writers visiting Paris chefs etc.) to provide more opportunities for meetings between our members.
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WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO LAUNCH ATRIA PARIS? AR - My partner and I come from very different backgrounds. I worked for fifteen years in innovation; I am a graduate of ESSEC and Harvard Business School. Recently I accompanied entrepreneurs in their international development through a company I founded in 2009. After six years of traveling around the world I decided to spend more time in Paris. I met some extraordinarily innovative and creative people and I felt a strong internationally-oriented energy. I wanted to create a platform of handpicked contacts to facilitate international expansion and connections between the extraordinary people I had met. In Paris there were many incubators for start-ups from the tech sector but it seemed that there lacked a project accelerator for vetted talent in the pursuit of innovation and international expansion. I decided to put the together my network I had built over the years and created this platform.
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CP - After having trained as an architect in London I had the chance to work side by side with three of the most prestigious architects of our time between London and Rotterdam. After completing a Master s in Real Estate Development at Columbia I left the architectural firms because I had become more attracted to the some of my clients professions that of real estate developers. I worked on a very ambitious mixed-use project at the Defense for three years. Throughout my work I watched with interest how working methods were undergoing profound changes as was the flexibility of the workplace; its communal aspects and collaborative nature were being fundamentally amplified. Like Aline I was struck by the creative and innovative potential of Paris and a growing revival of the potential of this metropolis on the world stage. After spending 20 years abroad I felt the urge to participate more actively in this effervescence by creating ATRIA which now allows all community project developers to work more efficiently while creating a platform that is very internationally-oriented.
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BUSINESS | What is Atria?
WHAT IS YOUR ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC JOURNAL IN EUROPE?
WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF DESIGN AND ITS ROLE IN SOCIETY?
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AR - When we met Matthew Linden we immediately wanted to support his efforts with PUBLIC Journal. Its concept seems to us at ATRIA like it should be a crucial element of modern societies. It feels totally ATRIA where we help our members design projects that will self- sustain. We wanted to help launch the European Issue of PUBLIC and be alongside Matthew as he presents his vision PUBLIC + PARIS - so we assured the incubation and coordination of this Issue dedicated to Paris.
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CP - The synergies between the message that PUBLIC is upholding and the areas of development explored by many ATRIA members are obvious. We are seduced by the commitment PUBLIC Journal has to highlighting design as a tool for the public interest as opposed to an end in itself. This publication helps give a voice to exceptional projects and their creators and in so doing PUBLIC has its finger on the pulse of public interest design : a powerful movement and a strong area of focus for many members of our community. We therefore chose to bring our support to the development of PUBLIC + PARIS by seeking to provide the publication with solutions in terms of visibility content curation and partnerships.
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AR - For me design is a philosophy. It s a mindset of efficiency mixed with a strong awareness of the importance of the public good. To me it is the ability to create effective aesthetic and socially useful solutions that are replicable for new problems. This applies both to the way we dress to how one landscapes to where it welcomes its employees to how we solve business problems.
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CP - A text from Paul Virilio made me realize early on that the best design solutions are often those that are the least visible; by being so efficient and in perfect harmony with its required function and its environment it tends not to appear as a full-fledged achievement but rather a natural extension of an environment (or tool) which serves us. Design is not a profession in itself but a manner of addressing the issues across any scale and context with an agile mind a keen sense of observation (assimilating the DNA of its environment in particular its strengths and needs) coupled with a search for perfection. Design is the product of a constant search for efficiency and innovation - the main tool of any creator. The project developer the entrepreneur – those who actively participate in growing and shaping the evolution of our society at their very own scale - wield no tool more valuable than his/her talent as a
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PROJECT HIGHLIGHT FROM PARIS Reinventing Paris
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Reinventing The Seine
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In 2015 the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo made a worldwide appeal to planners developers financiers sociologists start-ups and/or associations for innovative projects to modernize transform or rebuild 23 building sites belonging to the City Hall of Paris. The winners were announced in February 2016 and now approximately 150 000 square meters worth of projects are starting soon. This is one of the most ambitious public-private partnerships ever led by a large metropolis the results of which will inspire a wave of innovation in urban typologies making Paris an international example of keen public policy in the twenty-first century. Paris has to reinvent itself at every moment says Anne Hidalgo Mayor of Paris. Far from the megalomania of the towers simply for glitter the proposed projects are part of a architecture concerned about the future of the planet remarks Jean-Louis Missika Deputy in charge of urban planning at the Paris City Hall. www.reinventer.paris
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There is a call for waterways buildings landscape and public work projects to Reinvent the Seine consisting of 41 sites spread over Paris Le Havre and Rouen (along the pathway of the Seine). Individuals and organizations may occupy rent or reinvent them through the implementation of an innovative project. This multi-site approach plans to solidify the Axis of the Seine: the communities and ports along the path of the Seine posed this challenge to architects entrepreneurs and artists to invent new ways of living working and commuting on and near the waterway and offered these sites up for the challenge. Breaking ground of the selected projects will take place in Spring of 2017. www.reinventerlaseine.fr
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FEATURE | Wisdom of The Crowd
WISDOM OF THE CROWD:
KNITKNOT ARCHITECTURE TAPS THE POTENTIAL OF CROWDFUNDING AS A CATALYST FOR PUBLIC INTEREST DESIGN
Text: Paul Keskeys Images: Knitknot Architecture
Paul is a qualified architect in the UK, having completed his registration at the Bartlett School of Architecture in London. Having run the gauntlet of professional practice for 3 years, he ventured into the vociferous world of freelance journalism, and is a regular columnist for multiple online platforms provoking debates on architecture, including Architizer and Archinect. A keen advocate of humanitarian design, Paul also volunteered for Architecture for Humanity in 2014, lending a personal angle to the article on Football for Hope featured in that issue.
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Back in January 2008 Danae Ringelmann cofounded the crowdfunding website Indiegogo as a democratic platform for people to fund film projects. Given these cinematic origins it seems appropriate that the stratospheric rise in the popularity and social relevance of crowdfunding has been based around the production of great movie trailers: Many of Indiegogo s greatest projects are built around compelling promotional films each telling a powerful story about the campaign and the people behind it.
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Once these trailers helped to bring the fictional lands depicted in movies to our screens. Now they are driving transformations in the real world.
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One such film was produced by Knitknot Architecture a collective of architects urban planners artists and thinkers who together with non-governmental organization Seeds of Learning have embarked on an architectural adventure with the help of donations from around the world.
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Their project — a school for children in the Nicaraguan village of El Jicarito — is a marriage of collaboration and creative talent that aims to benefit everyone involved. We are bringing together a community in need of a school an NGO (nongovernmental organization) that works with education and a team of architects who are excited about bringing new construction methods to Nicaragua explains Knitknot Architecture s cofounder Gonzalo J. Lopez.
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FEATURE
WHY CROWDFUND? ’
With the education of El Jicarito s children taking place in makeshift huts the community had long been in need of a more permanent structure to aid the development of their youngest generation. However with little in the way of financial aid to help with the construction of public buildings in this remote part of Nicaragua an unorthodox means of financing the project was needed. Enter Knitknot Architecture and Seeds for Learning who identified crowdfunding as the catalyst to bring the project to fruition.
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While Indiegogo s platform has made it infinitely easier to set up such a campaign making it a success requires a great deal of hard work pertaining to raising awareness and convincing a broad demographic of the project s worth. With the sheer volume of campaigns now proliferating across Indiegogo and similar platforms such as Kickstarter making your project stand out from the crowd requires a well-presented explanation of your mission — and smart ways to market that mission.
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collaboration presented a great chance to expand the diffusion of their activities and the current situation in those communities to a wider amount of people thanks to crowdfunding sites popularity.
Knitknot Architecture s sense that this project could capture the imagination of the public and bring out the altruistic qualities of a wide audience turned out to be well founded. The collective s colorful campaign garnered just over $22 000 from 249 backers surpassing their goal of $20 000
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“Second, both sides thought that this
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The biggest challenge was to design and script the fundraising campaign and contacting potential backers before and during the campaign time explains Lopez. It was the first time Knitknot was facing this kind of production that involved the creation of a video images and text that conveyed the message to the largest amount of people possible. Besides Seeds of Learning we were lucky to count with some help in the audiovisuals and very good reaction from media which was extremely useful.
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In the decision to use a crowdfunding platform like Indiegogo different factors intervened remembers Lopez. First the project means a change in their traditional way of building schools in the continued search for improving conditions spaces and dynamics for education giving the project a sense of starting point to define the NGO s activity in the future. The project is a bit more ambitious in terms of size and techniques than their previous projects which represents an increase in their usual expenses.
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on May 29th 2016. The team has put these funds to use immediately having begun pouring the foundations in July 2016.
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FEATURE | Wisdom of The Crowd
“This programmatic versatility means the building is set to be much more than a school.”
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“Learning FROM the Building” to “Learning IN the Building” ’
The inventive method of funding for Knitknot s school is matched by numerous innovative design features within the building itself each of which will allow the community to learn about new construction techniques as well as benefiting from the finished project. The dual concept of learning from the building and learning in the building was identified by Knitknot at the outset of their campaign and participatory design principles are integral to the project s journey from conception to completion. The building itself constitutes a process of experimentation and learning for the community explains Francesca Froy a policy analyst who has a special interest in socio-economic impacts on the built environment and provided the voiceover for Knitknot s campaign video. The community will be involved in the construction and in the longer term could apply the methods to other local projects. This participatory process began with a series of experimental workshops in which members of the local community and volunteers devised a simple yet bold system to give shape to the collective spaces. Colored paving will be laid across the site in sweeping segments helping to define the different programmatic areas and creating a vibrant joyous aesthetic that will run throughout the cluster of classrooms and outdoor play areas. Concrete substructures are proposed to support and give shape to the elementary school classroom and polyvalent spaces in between. Further to this a steel frame structure will frame two modules housing the preschool classroom a bathroom and a multifunctional warehouse. These conventional structural systems are familiar to the local community; meaning that they will be able to collaborate and help build the primary volumes with confidence and efficiency. Design innovation is then introduced to the project in two key ways. Firstly earth bags will be used to form the walls of multiple buildings a
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low-cost construction method selected for its sustainable attributes. Some earth bag walls are proposed as secondary structural components working in conjunction with concrete columns while others will act as self-supporting elements wrapping the preschool classroom and toilet and warehouse modules. Secondly Knitknot will implement a ventilated roof structure that combines a conventional metallic roof with a second layer of fabric creating a void that helps absorb the heat and noise from heavy rains prevalent in the region. As well as providing shelter to suit the humid conditions of El Jicarito this solution is intended to educate the community on sustainable building practices that they could potentially employ on future structures in the village. The finished building will provide highly flexible spaces that can be used by the community both during and after school hours. For example the square can be utilized at different times of the day as meeting point event space and playground. Further to this the open-plan interior spaces can be combined in different ways to create large common areas accommodate an additional classroom if the number of pupils increases or become an extension to the public square on special occasions. This programmatic versatility means the building is set to be much more than a school. It constitutes a valuable learning opportunity for local people before during and hopefully long after construction. In time the project will likely come to be viewed as a precedent to architecture firms and NGOs around the world considering ways in which communities can benefit from carefully crafted funding campaigns and an effective participatory design process.
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FEATURE | Wisdom of The Crowd
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Uncovering the Vast Potential of Crowdfunding ’
Knitknot Architecture s initiative is exemplary of how creative design and an inspiring narrative can be combined with adept marketing to bring public interest projects to fruition with little or no immediate capital. In the long term however it could stand for much more than that. The success of El Jicarito constitutes compelling evidence that crowdfunding is now a wholly viable method of financing humanitarian architecture and its inherent scalability is perhaps the most exciting component of this trend. To understand just how much potential there is here one need only look at the vast sums of money raised through Indiegogo or Kickstarter for design-based projects outside of the architectural realm. Within the arena of product design the Coolest Cooler was the most funded endeavor in Kickstarter s history as of 2015 having raised an extraordinary $13.3 million for their high-tech cooler incorporating a waterproof speaker and USB charger. People s willingness to give small sums of money for small scale rewards is even more evident when you look at Kickstarter s most supported project in history by number of backers: Elan Lee s Exploding Kittens card game was surely the least serious but most ingenious crowdfunding initiative ever with well over 200 000 people chipping in on the card game for people who
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are into kittens and explosions and laser beams … and sometimes goats. Of course kittens are much easier to market than architecture — or so you might think. In fact the cool factor can be applied to innovative public space projects with phenomenal results as proved by +POOL a campaign launched by the creative minds at Family and Playlab to build a floating swimming pool within New York City s East River. A key factor at play here was the organizers smart strategy to tempt a large number of people to make small investments in the project: each person donating $25 was offered the chance to have their name engraved on a +POOL tile effectively owning a tiny piece of the structure and adding a visceral sense of pride to their financial investment. The result? $273 000 raised with well over 3 000 backers. This extraordinary sum has enabled development on the pool to progress with a Float Lab constructed in 2013 to test the pool s filtration system in real-river conditions. While gaining clearance from federal city and state governments to construct the project remains an arduous process the project is edging closer to reality. In the meantime the Plus Pool team has launched a swimming education summer program free of charge.
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FEATURE | Wisdom of The Crowd
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Riding the Wave , ,
From the villages of Nicaragua to the rivers of New York City crowdfunding has proven to be the perfect platform for public interest design not just to achieve funding but also — crucially — to show a wide audience the power of great design to benefit communities in every context. But how far can this approach go? Lopez believes the potential is huge but the rationale for using crowdfunding must be considered on a case-by-case basis. We believe in using crowdfunding as a project catalyst rather than a continued technique says the architect. In that manner crowdfunding works as a singular intervention that changes a network of existing practices and generates new conditions that would have never been possible without crowdfunding. Asked if he believes that this form of funding could be used to construct projects on a much larger scale in the future Lopez was cautiously optimistic. We believe that the strength of crowdfunding lies in it being used as a catalyst … in which a network of existing practices could evolve into collaborations that otherwise could not have been forged said the architect. This could potentially happen in larger public projects; however we think that crowdfunding should never act as a substitute for public institutions funding. It remains to be seen whether larger projects can successfully ride the crowdfunding wave and how long this trend will continue as Indiegogo and Kickstarter become increasingly saturated with campaigns vying for the attention of the public. One thing that is sure to last though is the newly acquired skillsets of El Jicarito s close-knit community. For them — and particularly the children who will soon move into a brand new highly innovative school — the sky is the limit.
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For additional information on this project, make sure to visit knitknotarchitecture.com
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CULTURE | The Rise of The “Noir Wave”
THE RISE OF THE “NOIR WAVE” Text: Nelly Wandji
Founder of Moonlook, an online sales, communication, and marketing platform for young design talents across the African continent. Nelly is also in charge of commercial partnerships for the project Design for Peace which has sourced artisans within refugee camps across Burkina Faso to collaborate with French designers in the creation of a unique collection of contemporary design-wear pieces.
Design as a multidisciplinary and humanist creative process can provide solutions to economical social and environmental problems. America and Europe -- and as a focus of this article France -- are in the process of shifting identities with increasingly diverse populations. Through design and creativity gaps may be bridged and solutions may emerge from a wave of creatives that Yannick Llunga (alias Petit Noir) an emerging South-African musician has called The Noir Wave.
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With their views on various social issues facing their society followers of the Noir Wave are consciously and unconsciously shaping the evolving identity of Africa. They are fashion designers architects musicians
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entrepreneurs photographers painters from Africa and the diaspora. They are the New Wave; they are The Noir Wave.
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For decades design has been a great tool for people across Africa. Experiencing an economic upturn the continent has been unveiling a very dynamic creative scene pushing local and authentic ideas globally thanks to the digital world. These ideas carry so much creativity and humanity. With local ideas emerging designers artists and creatives are solving their daily problems by delivering consistently new and authentic messages and solutions through creativity and design. Following are a few of these ideas.
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+ CULTURE SOFT POWER & REBRANDING ,
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In 2013 Pierre Christope created Afro-polis a virtual African city and introduced the Affogbolos: a fictive couple who stand for an upcoming generation of savvy well-travelled and art-loving citizens. The Affogbolos embody the values and aesthetics of their generation. Afro-polis the virtual African city is also a series of experimental exhibitions across Africa and Europe exploring the sociological and aesthetic dynamic at the heart of the modern pan-African way of life. The idea is to celebrate the cultural landscape of a modern Africa. By fostering design and creativity to empower young Africans and spread an African way of life across the globe they also hope to rebrand Africa with images of both African heritage and modern culture.
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LIVELIHOOD & SOCIAL CHANGE With more than 60 million people identified by the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) the number of displaced people and refugees worldwide reached its highest level in 2014 - a record which might be exceeded again in 2016. More and more people find themselves in refugee situations without any (or few) hope of return to their country of origin. Though recent events have highlighted the influx of migrants seeking to reach Europe it is in fact in other countries often among the poorest in the world that are hosting 4/5th of refugees. These long exiles for refugees therefore represent a considerable challenge for hosting countries with very limited resources. Among the various responses to dealing with emergency situations www.designforpeace.org is implementing innovative and sustainable solutions for refugees self-reliance. In Burkina Faso there are close to 38 800 people currently living in refugees camps. Some of them are very skilled craftsmen; the project aims at enabling them to become self-reliant again. Promoting the social
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Photos: Left: DNA Right Top: Pierre Christophe GMA Right Bottom: Design For Peace
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and economic integration of Malian refugees in Burkina Faso by valuing their craftsmanship is a more appropriate answer designed by www.afrikatiss.org and UNHCR. They are implementing the project as a pilot. The current refugee crisis is creating tensions globally; some people are still crossing seas to seek wealth and growth in Europe and America. Design for Peace is proof that wealth and growth is where you create it. By connecting seventeen craftsmen and six young designers Design for Peace aims at creating value in Ouagadougou while providing means to self-reliance and livelihood to 200 refugees and their families.
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CULTURE | The Rise of The Noir Wave
CROSS CULTURE & DIASPORA ,
France and Africa share an old common story usually told differently depending on the perspective from which one looks. Even if the scar is still there younger generations have found a ground for common understanding choosing not to fight the same wars but solving daily problems with creative solutions and expressing their opinions in the most creative ways. From that perspective of living in a global world diasporas create a changing narrative telling the stories from their own perspective and with their own words. The number of magazines blogs projects and dynamics that are evolving and reaching communities above 1 million people are greater and greater. With music art fashion design and photography creatives in diaspora are reinventing themselves and connecting to other transverse and local cultures. I have created a lot of awareness about the xhosa culture fashion designer Laduma says. A lot of people abroad didn t even know that we have cold winters in South-Africa . Laduma made quite an entrance to the fashion world with his modern xhosa-inspired knitwear collection.
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THE MAKERS Design Network Africa (DNA) establishes a link between designers of Eastern Western and Southern African respect. Designers in the network were selected for the originality and sophistication of their products the diversity of their expression and the uniqueness of their global identities. They represent the dynamism and distinct expression of the new African identity. The program aims to encourage collaboration between designers by sharing challenges and solutions. Design Network Africa celebrated the fruition of five years and three phases of its program with a group show at Maison & Objet in Paris in September 2016. We re extremely proud of the designers who have formed part of the program over the years and the diverse ways in which their companies have grown over this time says Trevyn McGowan whose company The Guild Group directs the program from South Africa through funding and guidance from Danish body CKU (Centre for Culture and Development). With the same vision and yet a different approach to market MoonLook retails African brands and products through an online marketplace where customers can discover and purchase African brands and where designers can share their latest stories and projects. Over the last two years MoonLook has created pop-up events to interact with the customers in the well-known neighborhood of Le Marais bringing to the world MADE IN AFRICA s finest fashion design and lifestyle products.
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Photos: Top Left: Design For Peace Bottom Left: Pitti Immagine & Vanni Bassetti Bottom Right: Andile Dylavane Top Right: moon-look.com
www.mag.moon-look.com www.designnetworkafrica.org www.designindaba.com www.designforpeace.org www.afrikatiss.org
Top Left: Exposition institut francais ouagadougo Vases Agasho Top Right: Doreen Mashika Bottom Left: Constellation Africa Backstage Bottom Middle: MaXhosa by Laduma SS16 Bottom Middle: Andile Dyalvane
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FEATURE | The Bauhaus: The Intersection of Arts and Politics
The Bauhaus: The Intersection of Arts and Politics Text: Casie Stone
Casie Stone is a practicing associate architect in Oakland, CA, originally from Virginia Beach, VA. She holds a Bachelors of Architecture from Virginia Tech: College of Architecture and Urban Studies, where she graduated in 2008. When she isn’t working as a designer, she can be found reading, writing, and studying culture and politics, with the hope of having a hand in the creation of a better world.
The Bauhaus School of Art and Architecture (Bauhaus) was opened in Weimar Germany in 1919 shortly after World War I (WWI) ended. Following the defeat in WWI Germany was forced to adapt to the changing governing structures of Western Europe and found themselves faced with the question of building a new republic while political and cultural forces -- at times at odds and at times in tandem -- were stretching the ideas of citizens on the type of republic they wanted for themselves. At the beginning moments of this interwar period there was a belief that the end of war had driven out the past. In this new era of forging societal models and mass struggle the Bauhaus was one of the spaces where new cultural ideas of Weimar Germany could brew. In the same way the Bauhaus was born as a result of political influences it s location and vision would ebb and flow with the ever-changing political tides. After the opening in 1919 in Weimar the Bauhaus operated for 7 years before it was forced to relocate to Dessau in 1925. In 1932 the Bauhaus moved to Berlin for its final years when it closed its doors in 1933. In Germany the loss of WWI had been devastating to its economy and to economies across Europe. Germany now owed sizable reparations to France and Great Britain. There were mass general strikes in Belgium Sweden Holland Russia France Italy Spain and Ireland between 1893 and 1919. The half-realized German Revolution of 1918 that overthrew the Kaiser
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failed to meet the revolutionary hope of workers; however this revolution was birthed by the Workers Council movement which served as an immense inspiration for German artists. Walter Gropius founder of the Bauhaus became the head of the architect-led Working Council on the Arts in 1919 which issued an Appeal to the Artists of All Countries. Immersed in the shifting ideas of the early 1920 s and in their short time of efflorescence the Bauhaus set out to reimagine art schools. As Leah Dickerman wrote in Bauhaus Fundamentals the Bauhaus brought together a diverse group of international artists designers and architects in a kind of cultural think tank for the times. Walter Gropius and the founding members of the Bauhaus set out to change the way artists and architects were trained. They hoped that in doing so art and architecture would better their society as a whole. They centered their arts education on the principles developed by the Arbeitsrat für Kunst or Worker s Council for Art. A guiding principle was that art and people must form a unity. By aserting that art shall no longer be the employment of the few but the life and happiness of the masses the Bauhaus was a diversion from traditional academic cannon. The school s experimental philosophy of learning drew on both the traditional model of craft schools as well as the novel ideas of early 20th-century progressive education movements (including the work of Friedrich Froebel who had
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created the concept of kindergarten). Johannes Itten the third faculty member brought on to build the Bauhaus developed the school s introductory course melding his two professional backgrounds: painting and early childhood education. The school emphasized the importance of student s intuition replacing individual critic with group discussions. The students would progress through cycles of instruction exploratory individual learning and collaborative competition. Many other founding faculty members of the school were renowned expressionist painters who brought subjective perceptions to their work emphasizing the emotions over meaning. The Bauhaus aimed to mature the education of the arts seeking new means for artist and architects to contribute to Weimar society. However their vision was cut short when the school was shut down in 1933 amidst political turbulence of budding Nazi Germany as the school was believed to be a center of communist thought. Looking back with nearly 100 years of distance the Bauhaus political landscape feels relevant to contemporary questions about the shape of our own future. We are - at present - living through new realignments in global organizing bodies the rise of popular left wing parties like Sryiza in Greece and Podemos in Spain and with emerging economic powers such as China and Brazil pushing for their own capital needs within the World Trade Organization. The 2016 America election cycle has revealed
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divides in both of the two main political parties the depths of which we have yet to see. And at the same time the United States is being gripped by growing protest movements: fighting for living wages and against losing homes and neighborhoods to gentrification and still having to insert into the conversation that yes Black Lives do Matter. In France the social movement Nuit debout stands in opposition to proposed labor reforms while holding nightly popular assemblies at public squares where people can gather to discuss their concerns and collaborate toward solutions to modern societal questions. We are continually in need of public creative
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spaces where cultural resources and the masses can innovate political transformation. As the Bauhaus was birthed in political turmoil which failed the working class and given the increasing political turbulence of current times working people - and artists - need to band together and form their own Bauhaus.
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EDITORIAL | An Interview with Ghislaine Hierso
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An Interview with Olivier Mousson, President of the SEIN
Images: Sein
HEC Paris, State Doctor of economic sciences, Olivier Mousson has been a member of several ministerial offices; the Department of Industry with Gérard Longuet, the Ministry for Equipment with Gilles de Robien. Currently, he is the top adviser to the Court of Auditors, and is responsible for follow-through for industrial and commercial issues alike. Olivier Mousson is committed to the promotion of French industry in his capacity as the President of the Society for the Advancement of National Industry that he has directed since 2013. Engaged citizen, M. Mousson is also the President of the European Movement in Paris and Vice-President of the European Movement in France. WHAT WAS THE ROLE OF THE SEIN AND HOW WOULD YOU SUMMARIZE THE EVOLUTION OF ITS ROLE SINCE ITS INCEPTION?
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With the support of three consuls Bonaparte Cambaceres and Lebrun The Society for the Advancement of the National Industry (SEIN) was founded in 1801 by a group of scientists government officials and entrepreneurs gathered around Chaptal (the great chemist and industrialist) to contribute to the country s economic recovery after the Revolution. SEIN has been recognized as a non-profit since 1824 with an aim to support the industrial development of France to promote technological innovation and to reward great industry promoters. In the course of the nineteenth century it contributed directly to the economic development of France being the precursor of the INPI (Institut National De La Propriété Industrielle) Bpifrance and the National Testing Laboratory. Today the Society continues its mission to support major industrial change as well as economic and social developments while encouraging the shapers of tomorrow s industries: The Society annually awards CHAPTAL and MONTGOLFIER prizes that honor entrepreneurs and researchers from the economic industrial and commercial sectors. Other goals of the Society include advancing the transmission of innovations and knowledge promoting made-in-France and preserving historical industrial heritage.
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BETWEEN THE TRANSMISSION OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE BUILDERS OF TOMORROW’S INDUSTRY, WHERE DO YOU SEE THE POTENTIAL OF “MADE-IN-FRANCE” FOR THE YEAR 2025? The Society organizes symposiums and forums throughout the year to showcase new ideas emerging practices promising technologies and promote critical debate. Our events address key contemporary issues in the fields of science technology education and sustainable development. Even though The Third Industrial Revolution the digital one facilitates the transmission of knowledge the greatest challenge for the French economy remains encouraging entrepreneurs like in the early stage of the nineteenth century and converting our innovations and our image into products and jobs.
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WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FOR FRENCH INDUSTRY IN THE NEXT 20 YEARS AND HOW IS THE SEIN PREPARED TO TO ASSIST FRENCH COMPANIES IN THIS PERIOD? The best asset that France has is its image and culture. Trade mainly relies on the image and the brand promoted by a given country. All around the world France is still considered as the country of luxury of good living and of good taste. It is no coincidence that we are the top tourist
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EDITORIAL | An Interview with Olivier Mousson
destination worldwide. We must continue to cultivate the image of France that is not inconsistent with the fact that we also remain a country of inventors as in the nineteenth century. We have registered more high technology patents in the world than Germany. In that context It is necessary that France takes on global leadership in sustainable development. That is the reason why we participated in 2015 to the COP 21 by offering the Chamber of Industry to host the African delegations and we are currently involved in the mobilization of French companies to the upcoming COP 22 in Marrakech. This is also why the Society with its network of French and French-loving foreign entrepreneurs is committed to supporting the French candidacy to the 2025 World Expo. Five years after the birth of cinema at the Chamber of Industry the famous Lumière brothers invention turned out to be the major revelation of the Universal Exhibition of 1900. We do hope that the innovations we currently promote will be just as successful in 2025.
HOW DO YOU SEE THE BALANCE BETWEEN ADVANCEMENT AND PROTECTION OF A DOMESTIC INDUSTRY IN A WORLD AS INTERCONNECTED AND INTERNATIONAL AS OURS?
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In the globalized and interconnected era in which we live the protection of economic borders based on States borders is an illusion. We do not swim alone in globalization. It is the role of Europe to protect its social model and to negotiate the international openness of its markets. This requires a more integrated European security and defense system as well as an independent budget. But we also believe in the power of cultural protectionism by citizens themselves that could favor the made in France brand or at least the made in Europe brand. We are rediscovering the power of the French touch image that contributes to our competitiveness internationally as well as internally.
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YOU ARE HOSTING THE LAUNCH OF A SPECIAL EDITION OF AN AMERICAN JOURNAL, PUBLIC, FOCUSED ON PROMOTING DESIGN PROJECTS WITH A HIGH SOCIAL IMPACT IN FRANCE. DOES THE SEIN ALSO MOBILIZE FOR DESIGN?
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Promoting design as a very component of the French touch is one of the the SEIN s missions. We insist on the fact that design is not only a matter of form and creativity but also a tool for entrepreneurs to create value and foster more competitiveness. The Society for the Advancement of National Industry has for several years organized an annual roundtable on design management. By inviting the companies selected by the Observer of Design to explain their strategies best practices and successes. How much is design integrated into their businesses? What methods did they use to coordinate the design with other company aspects and stakeholders? How do they measure the contribution
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design has had in their success? These roundtables have shown that more and more French companies consider design as a tool for innovation. The Society for the Advancement of National Industry hosts exhibitions in the Hotel of Industry such as A Tour of French Design Management organized by the Agency for the Promotion of Industrial Creation (APCI) which showcased 10 exemplary companies on their use of design throughout the whole week of D Days.
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PUBLIC OPINION | Revolution By Design
REVOLUTION BY DESIGN Text: Edward Silhol Images: Alexia Barlier
Edward is CEO and founder of a tech company based both in Paris and LA. His company Stample offers a platform which enables individuals and companies to build their own personalized search engines based on sources of information chosen by the user. Edward speaks of the role of design as an infinitely powerful tool for optimization which in the 21st century has the potential to contribute to the elimination of waste.
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Nearly 15 years ago while studying economics and environmental studies in college I was bothered by a strange fact: when we measure value added we consider the price at which a product or service sells minus the cost of all resources necessary to create and deliver it. However we fundamentally neglect the fact that there are two really different types of such resources: those that are limited in quantities and those that aren t. When we use renewable or limitless resources we are just spending the interest on our planet s endowment. Otherwise we re burning our initial capital which is a dangerous road to wander on.
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There are instances where no nonrenewable resources are needed to create value and the largest one of these is design. A designer can be presented with a design challenge and without the use of extra resources improve the design of the product or process. We must teach our politicians and populations the incredible potential of design: we can accomplish more using fewer resources by turning ideas into improved products and/or processes.
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PUBLIC OPINION
FEEDBACK, THE WORLD’S MOST IMPORTANT WORD
“Designers are at the heart of this revolution”
Our greatest achievement as a species is our interdependency. As Clay Shirky internet scholar puts it groups are good and we achieve far better results together than individually. However when designing for groups we have to consider the opinions of others. Designers work within reality and in reality there is always a context: available technologies people s desires their behaviors. In order to invent better systems a designer has to work with a vast array of constraints and opportunities. The first step is to identify these constraints and opportunities a process some practitioners call sensing. In our fast-changing world this process is becoming more and more essential. Companies that are great at detecting user needs and incorporating feedback can design ever-improving services that grow at an extremely high speed often overshadowing their competition along the way. Designers are at the heart of this revolution.
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PUBLIC OPINION | Revolution By Design
SOCIAL MEDIA VS. KNOWLEDGE CURATION
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Trying to understand the world in which we live is not a small task but it is one that each of us undertakes every day. In a fast-paced world this only gets harder. Many of us rely on social media as a primary source of information. However as eloquently explained by blogger Mark Manson social media is attention-driven and in the attention economy people are rewarded for extremism because moderation and reason is something that becomes too arduous and boring to stand . A few years ago I realized that the Internet despite giving us - nearly free access to - nearly - all the world s knowledge was entirely failing us as a personal development tool specifically for the reasons stated above. I felt it was turning into an information blockbuster factory keeping us constantly hooked and I would argue in a state of permanent confusion. This realization is what led me to start Stample the knowledge curation platform my team and I have been building for the last few years. The vision is simple: Since we all spend so much time scanning the Internet for properly researched simple yet relevant content why don t we mutualize our efforts? Some people do this through social media but their posts often get lost in an ever-increasing flow of intellectual junk food and because of the
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network s attention-driven algorithms deeper meaningful posts rarely surface in people s timelines. We decided to re-imagine the library as a place where people can collaboratively curate collections of intelligent content decide precisely how these collections are to be shared or published and slowly but surely build their own highly qualified search engine. Stample is a place for the content you - and the people you trust - want to keep reference and live with.
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INVENTING ON PRINCIPLE. This expression is the title of an incredible lecture by UX designer Brett Victor. His talk is an invitation to focus on first principles and test our behavior and ideas against them as a sailor to his/her compass. The issue we have with the Internet today is that it is almost entirely built around advertising. Every social interface is designed to make us somewhat addicted so we will spend more time looking at ads. Advertising is not a bad thing but as a driver for design it creates a dangerous bias in the way that services operate. It generates a culture of digital addiction which undermines the vast potential of the Internet as a personal and professional development tool. I don t think we should have to use ad blockers to have a decent online experience. Rather ads should be something we opt into when we want to discover new products and services. We can achieve amazing results by replacing addiction with trust as a first principle in the way we run our online services. When people feel respected they are far more likely to act respectfully towards others. By using the limitless resource of design and fixing the design of the Internet we can help people thrive accelerate innovation and improve our lives at zero cost to our natural environment.
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FEATURE | Naval Architecture & Sustainable Development
NAVAL ARCHITECTURE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Text: Marc Van Peteghem Images: Watever In 1983, Vincent Lauriot-Prévost and Marc Van Peteghem became associates and founded the naval architecture agency VPLP (the acronym of the initials of their names: Van Peteghem and Lauriot Prévost). Together, they specialize in racing multihulls design. Their first boat is a 50-foot (15m) foiler baptized Gerard Lambert and was the first in a long line of racing trimarans. Their multihulls became famous and won many victories in races, including the America’s Cup in 2010 and records around the world. Later, this success would Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot-Prévost international references in the field of naval architecture.
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By 2005 VPLP Design (the naval architecture agency where I co-direct) had been designing winning ocean racing multihulls for 22 years. These super sailing yachts were built to transport their owners on round-theworld cruises. During all of this development knowledge acquired and
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opportunity to have a choice and to succeed at a career - I questioned my own social environmental and human engagement and commitments. How can we adapt all that we have learned in terms of construction the optimization of form of aero- and of hydro-dynamics to benefit the least advantaged among us?
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FEATURE
Left: Unicef boat and traditional boat
WATEVER ORGANIZATION ,
In 2005 French entrepreneur Yves Marre pushed the envelop of our agency. Yves told me about the work he did in Bangladesh (where he arrived by barge in 1994). He reclaimed a barge destined for the scrap yard and navigated through the Mediterranean the Red Sea the South of India and finally the Gulf of Bengal. He met Runa -- who later became his wife -- and together they founded the Friendship NGO. Yves transformed the barge into a floating hospital and took it to the north of the Brahmaputra River in Asia to areas that had been totally neglected from both a health and educational perspective. Yves needed to build catamaran ambulances to attach to and radiate from the house barge. Together we designed the ambulance catamarans and Yves set up the shipyard. The shipyard found its name in the Benali word Taratari meaning quick. Together. we founded the Watever Organization. This is not a spelling error. It is a word coined from a combination of Water and Ever. After the Cyclone Sidr hit Bengladesh hard in 2009 and the beaches in the south of the country were strewn with thousands of small day fishing boats we realized that there was an urgent need to build safer and unsinkable boats. There as in many places around the world traditional fishing boats are made of wood. However wood suitable for maritime use has become scarce and expensive. The boats of Bangladesh are built of wood that often require rebuilding after two years and every
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tropical storm results in hundreds of fishermen lost at sea. We designed a small fishing boat very similar to the traditional form that we prototyped for local fishermen and adapted according to their feedback. Volunteers came from France to help build these boats in a composite material made of fiberglass and a polyester resin tissue and we produced about 80 sample boats. In an attempt to reduce the environmental impact and the costs of materials we began a to look at using biomaterials. The country is the largest producer of jute in the world and the industry is in decline. It seemed an interesting opportunity to see if it was possible to transform jute fiber into a technical fabric that could replace fiberglass. This resulted in the creation of another company Gold of Bengal led by Corentin Châtelperron. We have also been working actively on the use of bamboo for the naval construction - it is a resilient fiber that grows quickly almost anywhere and absorbs a lot of CO2. It seemed to us that we also needed to create a training center in order to pass on the knowledge of these new technologies for naval construction; we have now marked 3 years that groups of young people are coming to learn from us what we had discovered. Natural disasters that hit the coasts of Bangladesh are becoming more and more frequent and creating so much wreckage; Bangladesh has one of the largest maritime fleets in the world either on rivers or the sea. In consultation with local authorities we initiated a sea rescue society MSRS Maritime Search and Rescue Society. This is a major project that requires a lot of resources but its success is imperative. The shipyard has already been transformed and has produced several small lifeboats; we have begun to train crews for them.
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FEATURE | Naval Architecture & Sustainable Development
CLIMATE CHANGE + WIND POWER This country is one of the first to witnesses climate change. There is an urgency to evolve but how does a country do that with the inertia of people who think that technology will solve everything? How do we get those people to understand that it is precisely this change that can carry a new prosperity a possibility of a new well being while the majority of people live frustrated with a loss of the quality of their lives and an increase in the cost of living? With the awareness that there was no more time to doubt the reality of global warming and the pessimism around the solutions for it I looked for a way to involved myself concretely. I love the legend recounted by Pierre Rabhi Colibri about a large fire that engulfed a jungle and upset all the animals - they asked themselves what could I do? The hummingbird left its nest to carry a drop of water in its beak to put out the fire. The animals said to hummingbird That is useless you will not put out the fire with a drop of water. The hummingbird replied I m doing my part. Maurille Lariviere the former director of studies at Strate College the famous design school he co-founded came to me and proposed that we create a new type of school where sustainable development would be in its DNA. The project evolved when Patrick Le Quément (former Director of Volkswagen Audi and Renault design) joined us. The three of us - aware that change would only be made by the know-how of young people
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Left Page: Left: Bamboo Transportation Left Page: Right: Field Studies Right Page: Top Left: TariTari Shipyard Right Page: Top Right: Sea Trial and Traditional Boat
taking advantage of this opportunity -- created The Sustainable Design School in Nice in 2013. We train students in general design techniques innovative methods of design thinking design knowledge and efficient innovations and we share with them the human values that are central to this approach. Our school has developed eight partnerships per year with companies that entrust projects with these young people. We favor a diverse approach: several nationalities are represented in the school and we welcome students from technical studies or the humanities thereby enhancing richness of reflection and the quality of projects. It is a great pleasure to see these young people take their future into their hands. Ninety percent of what surrounds us including what we wear has reached us by boat. Maritime transport which is expected to double again by 2050 represents a very significant part of greenhouse gas emissions and especially nitrogen dioxide and microparticles. The wind this energy that is free clean and everywhere has always powered boats. In recent history it has taken 100 years to replace the benefits of sailing with that of the machine. Today we must find innovative ways to use wind -- solutions have been explored since the 1930 s. I have been thinking about the Flettner rotor using the Magnus effect (the turbo sail the kite). My company VPLP was part of the BMW ORACLE team that won the 33rd America s Cup in 2010. The large trimaran we designed was rigged with a thick wing -- 68 meter wingspan. It occurred to me that this principle
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adapted for commercial use could give birth to a fully automated highperformance wind propulsion system the surface of which could be reduced so that it could moor in a harbor or in the case of strong winds. We are currently developing a prototype and have designed projects for superyachts and cabotage -- the small boats traveling the world in the Pacific Islands Indonesia or the Philippines where they are the only links between men. As a father of five born in the late 1950s I consider that my generation benefited from the promise of the infinite growth of a carefree society. It has assured a heavy responsibility for those of today - to move the world toward a more human model one that is more altruistic and empathetic. Michel Rocard spoke very well of what was for him the meaning of life: the awareness of the oneness of life. We are part of a whole that must be preserved to survive. The planet does not need humans; in truth it would be far better off without them. Technology will serve as a tool along man s way but it is men themselves who bring the real value. As the hummingbird I try to do my part.
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FEATURE | Local Expertise as a Tool for Resilience and Revitalization
Local Expertise as a Tool for Resilience and Revitalization
Text: Allan Co Images: MASS Design Group and Hudson River Housing Allan Co is a licensed architect and a current Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellow, working with Hudson River Housing in Poughkeepsie, NY and MASS Design Group in Boston, MA. His fellowship focuses on quality affordable housing, innovative programming and community engagement as catalysts for equitable economic revitalization. Allan’s work seeks to build capacity of residents and foster local expertise to diversify development and build resilience in the Mid-Hudson Valley. Prior to his fellowship, Allan worked in the private sector as an architect, most recently in New York City. Allan received his Bachelor of Architecture from the Rice University, and a Master of Science in Architecture History and Theory from University of Washington.
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Halfway between New York City and Albany Poughkeepsie New York sits on the shores of the Hudson River eager to return to the vibrancy it experienced from the 1940s through the early 1990s. In those decades of economic prosperity the city – and much of the region – hinged much of its prosperity on the growth and success of major industry. Most famously the arrival of IBM in 1941 created local wealth and facilitated development in the city and its surrounding region. The company started by manufacturing military equipment in the area then evolved its product line and established a plant for its globally-recognized mainframes bringing brain power and investment as it expanded.
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+ Poughkeepsie and the surrounding areas thrived. But since the former tech giant became less competitive and scaled back its manufacturing in the late 1980s Poughkeepsie has struggled to sustain physical social and economic stability. Development has stagnated residential and commercial vacancy rates top 25% and community wealth has given way to blight and inequality; challenges that tend to disproportionately affect impoverished communities and neighborhoods of color. Today a broad coalition of government agencies non-profit organizations and community stakeholders see hope in plans for revitalization. New efforts to incentivize business development clean up distressed neighborhoods and draw new capital and investment are focused on recreating the prosperity that characterized the Poughkeepsie of decades ago. Ongoing investment in the city s natural amenities such as the waterfront and rail trail network is being coupled with a focus on the central business district. This includes the area immediately surrounding Poughkeepsie s train station a hub of travel to the Northeast corridor and New York City via Amtrak and the Metro North Commuter Rail. These efforts are being facilitated by municipal and county-level government action and supported by non-profit organizations. Together they seek to improve key areas of the city to catalyze economic growth and development through commercial expansion and concentration on the tourism industry. But as the city embarks on a series of revitalization efforts systemic problems will continue to hinder the socio-economic vibrancy it strives for. The city deeply divided along racial lines and income inequality must look inward to its intrinsic strengths and assets and consider inclusion and diversification as it marches towards revitalization. Targeted efforts that seek to improve only specific areas will not build a resilient city; instead they will recreate one that lacks diversification built on only one a piece of the community it serves. A more resilient urban fabric can be fostered with an approach to revitalization that cultivates local assets
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and resources imbuing community strengths and responding to resident priorities with development at the building and district scale. These strategies can drive the local economy through investment that targets a mix of industries and income levels and assures inclusive space through community-driven design. Poughkeepsie is uniquely poised to demonstrate the power of these innovative strategies. Current work by private non-profit groups is expanding to respond to this need. Leading the way is Hudson River Housing (HRH) a Community Development Corporation that is evolving its mission to go beyond serving the homeless and developing affordable housing. HRH is embedding inclusive grassroots community building in its development using innovative programming and district-level design thinking to catalyze revitalization. And they re showing the evolving role that non-profit housing organizations are taking on community revitalization. By looking inward for opportunities to create community stewardship and equitable development organizations can leverage both the building and district scale can produce a replicable model for socioeconomic resilience in small cities. Often discussions about affordability and equality revolve around displacement of existing residents. In cities like Poughkeepsie affordable housing can be utilized not just to protect existing residents place in the community but also to contribute as an economic driver partnering with public policy and mainstream investment for greater impact. This includes creating quality housing options and innovative public spaces through community-driven design and fostering new economic footholds through cross-sector initiatives. Initially an organization aimed at addressing homelessness in Dutchess County New York Hudson River Housing s continued work in affordable housing and community development and community development is demonstrating this thesis on multiple scales. One of HRH s flagship projects the Poughkeepsie Underwear Factory
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FEATURE | Local Expertise as a Tool for Resilience and Revitalization
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is scheduled for a phased opening in January 2017. Programmed as a mixed-use development the adaptive reuse of a historic 1800s factory includes 15 affordable housing rentals and over 7 000 square feet of commercial space that is dedicated to social-impact enterprises that were community-oriented. Hudson River Housing decided at the start to target social-impact enterprises for the commercial space and to focus on neighborhood priorities and assets to create a project that would serve the needs of the neighborhood beyond housing. Embedded through the predevelopment and development processes was deep community engagement – street outreach surveys and lengthy in-person interviews reinforced by quantitative data from housing and food security reports. This engagement uncovered a social fabric and local culture imbued with food and the arts – but also revealed challenges such as pervasive food insecurity (25% of households in Poughkeepsie experience food insecurity at least once a year) and lack of access to arts programming and skill building. HRH felt that these strengths could be leveraged and nurtured to build social capital while addressing systemic difficulties and catalyzing further development. The Underwear Factory became a project that would use innovative community building to achieve greater impact going beyond housing to foster local capacity and expertise and develop Poughkeepsie s community wealth. Spaces include a community kitchen for recipe testing skill sharing education and business incubation; a local artisanal coffee roaster and café that staffs formerly homeless and hard-to-employ citizens while providing practical skill training; arts education space focusing on media-related arts for children and adults in collaboration
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Underwear Factory 2 N. Cherry St. CH E
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Fire Station 505 Main Street Trolley Barn 487 Main Street
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with a local arts non-profit; and studios for local artists. The goal is to contribute to the growing culinary agriculture and arts communities of the area to affirm Poughkeepsie s status as a hub for these industries. Through deep resident engagement Hudson River Housing is developing local capacity and fostering expertise in the area while responding to the residents needs and challenges through a community-driven process. Looking inward at Poughkeepsie s existing strengths the agency is going beyond housing to question what more the project can do to address the structural issues at play. The Underwear Factory is only the first phase of a multi-block plan to galvanize the culinary agriculture and arts industries while providing affordable housing to a community in need. HRH is attacking the challenge of socio-economic resilience within Poughkeepsie through income- and industry diversification planning and developing on the district level to scale up their efforts at community building. In addition to the Poughkeepsie Underwear Factory much development work in Poughkeepsie is focused on a two-block region within the city s growing Middle Main neighborhood. As with the Underwear Factory HRH is focusing on how opportunities in this larger district can respond to multiple needs and priorities within the community. Thus housing will be designed alongside more arts-based community programming and spaces for accessible affordable educational opportunities that can build local capacity. These development projects include: a 20 000 square foot renovation of a historic transportation building and adjacent properties into an arts-based campus live/work artist housing gallery space performance space and fabrication labs and workshops an affordable thirty-unit housing development with innovative co-housing programs
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and community spaces designed for healing and support and Fallkill a natural creek that will also provide flood mitigation infrastructure. Today s discussions about resilience often focus on physical infrastructure and disaster mitigation. But the topic extends to the socio-economic vibrancy of place encompassing the elasticity of an urban fabric in multiple dimensions. Discussions of inclusion and equitability are vital everywhere but they are particularly important in small cities that have experienced decades of recession. In these cities limited resources and economic instability can foster myopic development strategies focused on the short term. But small cities that face challenges like Poughkeepsie can demonstrate a novel approach for a more lasting success: affordable housing can be utilized not just to protect existing residents place in the community but also as a means to partner with public policy and financial investment. Creating quality affordable housing options and providing innovative public spaces through community-driven design will in turn foster new economic footholds through cross-sector collaboration. Top-down strategies that hinge on new investment will have greater impact when complemented with grassroots efforts that seek inclusion and equitability by giving all residents a voice.
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EDITORIAL | An Interview with Ghislaine Hierso
An Interview with Ghislaine Hierso Ghislaine Hierso is an economist and a geographer. She is the President and Founder of Sages & Responables (strategy consultant for shareholders on environmental and social governance), and she is responsible for and co-operator of B&L Evolution SCOP. She is the President of the “Association Française des Petits Debrouillards (AFPD),” founded in 1986 with links to the Canadian organization, which is a non-profit called “Petits Débrouillards” - an educational network which has built pedagogical tools about scientific culture and industrial techniques in partnership with national society and local authorities. Ghislaine Hiero is Co-President of Alliss (Cooperative platform of research sciences and societies) and Member of CNNum (The French Digital Council). She is Vice-President of Cercle de réflexion et d’actions Valeurs Vertes (a think and do tank), an administrator of association 4D, (Dossiers de Débats pour le Développement Durable; debating issues and for sustainable development) and “Confrontations Europe” (a think tank focused on Europe). She is a member of the “Société d’economic Politique” (French Political Economy Society) and the Bridge Tank. She is Chevalier dans l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur (2012) and Chevalier dans l’Ordre National du Mérite (2001). THE CONCEPT OF CRADLE TO CRADLE IS ANALOGOUS TO A CIRCULAR ECONOMY. CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE CONCEPT OF A LINEAR ECONOMY AND THAT OF A CIRCULAR ECONOMY? The Circular Economy is primarily an economy of poverty - a secular economy. Since the beginning of time humans have had to protect their resources and reuse everything that could be reused: agricultural reuse food scraps textiles scrap metal weapons transformed into agricultural tools etc. We must be cognizant that the economy of waste -- the linear economy where one produces and consumes then throws away -- is born from the industrial revolution. The industrialization of mass production has resulted in not only mass production but mass
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consumption: the manufacturing of needs without much concern about the end of life of these objects. Waste is being thrown outside the home then hidden and ignored as landfills are located away from the centers of cities. The concerns of waste management towards the end of the 19th century arose when health problems became an issue in developing countries (see the Prefect Poubelke in France). Taking into account the environmental consequences of waste management didn t begin until later in the 1970 s. Today we must advocate for as I like to say An economy of equal prosperity with sobriety. It is essential to conserve natural resources and ensure that consumption reduction requirements take into account each country s development. We must provide access to resources for all. We must all be more effective and more efficient.
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AS THE TWENTIETH CENTURY HAS BEEN A CENTURY OF WASTE, IT IS NECESSARY THAT THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY BECOME THE CENTURY OF RECYCLING The first reports that declared this need date from the 1970s by the Club of Rome (1972) and the Brundtland Report Our Future For All (1987). However some philosophers like Henri David Thoreau and Hans Jonas had discussed very early that these would be problems that come with a civilization of technology. Integrative waste management policy encourages de-materialization and the effective use of resources. This type of policy has been implemented for over 10 years now in Japan. Since 2000 Europe has published its thoughts on the implementation of a policy based on the sound recycling of environmental material according to the principle of the 3 R s (reduce reuse recycle). It is from this epiphany that the concept of cradle to cradle is born. The idea that everything returns to the earth should be approached with caution because we must avoid the dilution of pollution. For example WEEE (electrical and electronic waste) does indeed contain precious metals and other materials which can be recycled but must be treated with caution before they can be disposed of. As another example organic waste must be collected separately and not be contaminated by other waste byproducts such as plastics and batteries to ensure their organic nature. Taking into account the earth s heritage is essential; Mother Earth s biodiversity is often the poor parent of these policies which forget that
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Photos: Left: Bilum
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in order to return to the soil real precautions need to be taken for the preservation of natural resources water and the biodiversity of the planet. The Circular Economy therefore is not to sustain the management of waste but to take account of the hierarchy of waste. Prevention consume less and better reuse repair all that can be put in a good state with few transformations recycle considering the valuation of material transform waste and matter into products recover energy (with heat electricity) and eliminate what cannot be reused or transformed. This is a more efficient and rational use of resources (raw materials water and energy). The Circular Economy is often presented as a local phenomenon. However it should be a global conversation considering the trade of certain recyclable materials (paper recycled paper scrap plastics etc.) as stipulated by the relationship between recycling and the origins of different products (www.cercle-cyclope.com). At the recent World Economic Forum in Davos there were concerns about The Circular Economy. In particular there was conversation about the New Global Context an establishment of a new economic model more respectful of humans of the environment and more widely the planet. This is an issue of major debate.
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EDITORIAL | An Interview with Ghislaine Hierso
WHAT IS THE PLACE OF THE EVERYDAY CITIZEN IN THIS ECONOMIC MODEL? WHAT ARE THE ACTIONS NECESSARY TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS ECOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC APPROACH?
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I would say that every citizen every company every community and every government must be a player in the circular economy and each at its own level.
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WHAT UNDERLIES THE DEFINED OBJECTIVES TO IMPLEMENT THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY?
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To avoid the waste of resources and energy to secure the supply of raw materials for the economy to decrease environmental impact to reindustrialize the territories to limit the production of wastes that cannot be reused.
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WHAT ACTIONS CAN BUSINESSES AND GOVERNMENTS HELP WITH? They can involve all citizens. They can empower businesses to mobilize communities and develop innovative activities that create jobs. Each citizen should ensure they have a real need and use for any given purchase and when the product is at the end of its life they should do all they can to sort it as waste or to facilitate its possible reuse or recycling. During the production process companies should integrate and understand the full life cycle of a product or service from its design to the end of its life. The local administrations have to implement plans that facilitate the use of the waste from one territory as a resource for the other (the industrial ecology) as well as more informative communication campaigns aimed at a broader audience.
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This can promote awareness to the fact that we are all affected by the reduction of the impacts on the environment. The European and national authorities must develop regulations that take into account this new economic ecosystem of industrial territory. Despite advances initiated in June 2004 within the framework of the G8 Summit (link 1) and despite the 17 Objectives of Sustainable Development adopted by the United Nations in September 2015 -- which integrate the protection of resources with new European economic models (link 2) and national regulations (links 3 and 4) -- the fiscal system be it public or private investments does not allow for the implementation of a resilient model that promotes the resources necessary for the Circular Economy. The volatility of the commodities markets as presented by the Cyclops Report is a further example of this. In the light of these imperative ecological social and economic waste management initiatives the valuation of resources must be the object of an integrated transversal policy to facilitate the implementation of a circular economy. The circular economy is not good in itself if the integrated approach does not take into account all the ecological imperatives (preservation of resources and to avoid the dilution of the pollution) social (valorization of hard trades reduction of the precarious) and economic (volatility of prices of raw materials and the new economic model). To this day the Social and Solidarity Economy in these objectives participates most actively in the implementation of this Circular Economy by an economy of more pay (c/o Bernard Stiegler). Many of the projects are seen throughout the world but often at a restricted level. Local approaches are of course essential but we need to mobilize towards a project of the Whole.
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CURRENTLY, WHAT PLANS ARE IN PLACE, IN FRANCE, AND PARTICULARLY AROUND THE METROPOLIS OF THE GREATER PARIS TO FACILITATE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THESE ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC ISSUES? COULD MORE ADVANCED COUNTRIES SERVE AS A MODEL FOR FRANCE?
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In September 2015 the city of Paris put in place the States General of the Circular Economy (link 5) where several initiatives have been presented thanks to meetings with all many players: businesses researchers academics and heads of networks of the circular economy. Various practices and ideals have been developed on the pillars of the circular economy such as Eco-design Economics of the functionality Eco-mobility planned obsolescence Use Repair and Recycle (link 6). The appointment of the Circular Economy will take place on October 26 2016 -recognizing the actions of local communities and of the territory -- a year after the States General announced the Circular Economy of the Greater Paris. To better understand the circular economy workshops will be presented in schools colleges and high schools: workshops to combat waste or on training for trades and know-how. Explore the workshops about resources for young people in link. 7. Several reports on the green economy and green ways of life have been published. including the Report and Program modes of life the association 4D (link 8) of the ADEME (Http://www.ademe.fr) and of the Institute of the Économie Circular.
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SOURCES (1) Http://www.env.go.jp/fr/recycle/ (2) Http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/fr/objectifs-de-developpement-durable/ (3) europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-6203_en.htm (4) http://www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/-La-transition-energetique-pour-la-.html (5) Http://www.economiecirculaire.org/library/h/livre-blanc-de-leconomie-circulaire-dugrand-paris.html (6) http://www.oree.org/source/_Surlarouteeconomiecirculaire.pdf (7) Http://lespetitsdebrouillards.org/?rub=actus (8) Http://www.association4d.org/our-life-21/our-life-21-les-modes-de-vie/
PROJECT HIGHLIGHT FROM PARIS BILUM
ECODESIGN FAB LAB
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Creative firm specialized in upcycling . “Upcycling” is a waste management concept that aims to add value to materials, allowing them to be re-used. Waste or unused products are integrated in new objects of much higher quality and usefulness. The first materials collected were advertising canvases originally designed to cover up buildings frontages and construction sites. Rather than incinerating or burying them, such canvases, depending on their prints patterns, were converted into unique fabrics that could be used for crafting bags and accessories. Nowadays, the firm uses new materials: seatbelts, flags, lifejackets, Photos: Left: Jeanne-Rose
sportswear, kakemonos, ship sail… Waste sorting and materials preparation are put together in Bilum’s “laboratory”, located in Choisy-Le-Roi. With its 4 employees, the firm promotes an economy of proximity through its local production. The firm currently owns 7 workshops, including 3 ESATs (Establishment and Help Service through Work), where 70 people work to craft new objects.
Eco-design workshop that uses factory waste from industrial areas. As public awareness about industrial waste was being raised, the APEDCE (Association for Ecodesign and Circular Economy) decided to put together a Fab-lab in 2014, located in the industrial area of Mozinor in Montreuil. The idea is to create new objects and furniture from waste while including high end design in the process. This innovative structure is open to all: professionals or individuals, practitioners or students, artists, carpenters, designers, and runs thanks to the sharing of its members’ knowledge and to the 50 firms’ means of action, located in the area. The waste provided by the firms goes through a series of tests in order to determine its type, quantity and dimensions. Therefore, the Fab-lab is fully equipped with both traditional and digital machines so industrial waste can be processed in the best conditions possible. 3000 tons of waste are reused a couple of feet away from the factories avoiding transportation pollution. Located at the core of the industrial area, the ecodesign Fab-lab contributes to the debate on the fight against planned obsolescence in order to reduce the products’ environmental impact from its conception to its destruction.
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TECHNICALLY PUBLIC | Balancing Material Conservation and Reuse
Text: Kyle Normandin
Balancing Material Conservation and Reuse
Kyle Normandin is an Associate Principal with Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc., in Los Angeles, California. He has contributed numerous technical publications on architectural conservation of cultural heritage and currently serves as the cochair of Technical Committee of Modern Heritage for the Association for Preservation Technology. He also serves as the Chair of the Docomomo International Scientific Committee on Technology (ISC-T) since 2010. Kyle holds a BA in Architecture from UC Berkeley and an MS in Historic Preservation from Columbia University in the City of New York. Kyle currently continues to serves on the bureau of ICOMOS ISC20C and on the Editorial Advisory Board for the Journal of Architectural Conservation. RE-DISCOVERING AND PRESERVING OUR POST-WAR HERITAGE
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As architects we recognize and appreciate Modernist post-War architecture as much for its honesty and clarity of form as we do for its use of what was once considered leadingedge and at times untested and controversial new materials technologies and methods of construction. Though frequently overlooked in favor of the richly adorned Classical
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architecture of our more distant past many of the technological advancements in both design and construction that we see today owe their very existence to the risks that were taken and the challenges that were overcome as part of the post-War Modernist movement. Now approaching 70 years of age too many of these buildings suffer from the inescapable effects of aging deferred maintenance and years of neglect. As practitioners and stewards of our built environment we are called upon once again to rediscover these buildings and to reimagine their use in a way that preserves the integrity of the movement they reflect while also re-introducing them to an increasingly skeptical and incredulous audience that demands environmentally conscious energy efficient truly sustainable design.
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+ TECHNICALLY PUBLIC Left Page: Fig. 1 Next Page, Left: Fig.2 Next Page, Right: Fig. 3
CURRENT STATE OF PRESERVATION
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Today many significant buildings from the Modern era are at risk of neglect or demolition. While many of these buildings were created at a time when our society was mainly industrial we continue to use them in a post-industrial world. These buildings often require constant maintenance and repair and we must balance new technological standards while addressing comfort issues and environmental goals. Oftentimes technology becomes obsolete while building standards become more stringent. In many cases building materials and systems of the Modern and postwar eras have reached the end of their physical and economic life span and require repair or replacement. Dutch Architect Hubert-Jan Henket notes Twentieth century buildings in particular Modern Movement buildings are more susceptible to the influences of time than their predecessors and as a consequence this exposes them even more to the paradox of conservation. While it was generally expected that the buildings would become obsolete at least once or twice during their life span it was not envisaged that the building envelope materials and in some cases the structure itself would show signs of obsolescence after only twenty to thirty years in service (Chandler 1991 18). The temporal quality of prefabricated materials and systems has changed the face of building construction. In some cases we are faced with a quintessential paradox: the desire to make permanent buildings and structures originally designed only to serve a relatively short life-span.
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about thirty years after its construction. For this reason the sanatorium was built of industrial products and used construction techniques including the dry assembly of prefabricated building components and a stick-built curtain wall. Simplified installation and construction that could be executed with inexpensive labor resulted in significantly lower costs at the time of construction. It was also thought that innovative buildings could be constructed using a smaller quantity of material than necessary for traditional buildings as demonstrated by new building envelopes that were quite thin delicate and streamlined (De Jonge 2008 29). By comparison rationalism is based on a more flexible building design program where FUNCTIONALISM VS. RATIONALISM spaces are used for various functions. These buildings often consist of a concrete skeleton One important question raised by architects with long ribbon windows in which interior of the Modern and postwar eras was how layouts may adapt over time. For example building design should respond to the rapid changes in society. Two different principles and the design and rational planning of the Van Nelle Factory in the Netherlands allowed for approaches arose. According to architecture a multifunctional arrangement of space; the critic Adolf Behne in 1926 buildings were interior spaces could easily be modified in distinct in their functionalism or rationalism. response to new uses for the building. Functionalism is when an architectural form Industrialization throughout the twentieth follows the function closely to yield closecentury allowed the affordable production of fit architectonic design that may no longer materials like iron steel and glass as well as work when the function changes or becomes reinforced concrete which developed into one obsolete (De Jonge 2005 289). Often if the of the most universal and versatile materials building is not adaptable there is a strong in building construction. In addition to its possibility that it will have a short life span. industrial and economic efficiency concrete For example the Zonnestraal Sanatorium in could be used to realize building forms that Hilversum Netherlands designed in 1926-1928 were aesthetically inspired by automobiles and completed in 1931 demonstrates these conservation challenges because of its structure aircraft and ocean liners (Mills 1994 151). There was not just a fascination with materiality (fig. 1). The short life expectancy of this building design aligns with the preconceived notion that but also with the repetitive nature of the manufacturing process itself. tuberculosis was to have been eradicated in
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TECHNICALLY PUBLIC | Balancing Material Conservation and Reuse
MATERIAL PREFABRICATION VS. LIFE SPAN The desire to improve production of prefabricated materials including their assemblies and performance resulted in a proliferation of standardization. As early as the first International Congress for Modern Architecture (CIAM) meeting in 1928 ideas about the simplification of building forms were a focal point within the Modern Movement. On the one hand a steady rise in the production of standardized components based on geometric shapes increased economic viability by ensuring that such components could be made universally available. On the other hand this trade-based industry retained support for a more customized approach to creating components for particular designs based on unique organic forms. Such components were more costly than standard prefabricated components (De Jonge 2002 51). Advances in technology provided the capacity for larger building systems. For example the repeated and systematic use of certain individual building components (such as webbed
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trusses laminated wood beams arches prestressed concrete assemblies and precast concrete and composite systems) contributed to the development of new ways to use these components to span large spaces without intermediate columns. Concrete—reinforced prestressed cast-in-place and precast— together with panelized window wall systems - was widely used and became most symbolic of the stark social housing architecture of the Post-war era as seen in the urban development Cité Du Lignon in Geneva Switzerland (fig. 2). New and lighter constructions met the desired visual impact of Modern movement architecture which depended upon the impression of light and thin forms (Allen 1994 151). Because the Modern movement sought to erase surface relief its use of conventional detailing (i.e. overhangs drip and sill edges and copings) was generally inadequate. The performance of modern buildings and materials was not only
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physically compromised but in some cases aesthetically damaging. For example staining from water run-off could impact a building s appearance. The modern aesthetic also contributed to issues with air and water infiltration -- the thermal detailing of the envelope of the building had virtually no redundancy thus allowing air and water to migrate easily through. Vapor barrier systems emerged conceptually in the 1940s while sealants did not come into existence until the end of the 1950s. The use of thin forms the fragility of the materials and the vulnerability to air and water infiltration meant these building did not weather elegantly. The many Modern era buildings that exhibit these problems provide us with an opportunity -- and a challenge -- to continue researching new preservation technologies.
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PHYSICAL CONSERVATION AND PRESERVATION Building investigations and diagnostics are critical to identifying and responding to failure mechanisms inherent in the building assembly. A multidisciplinary in-depth examination of these built-in deficiencies has been key to understanding the factors that impact the overall performance of building systems. Responding to building failures with shortterm and long-term solutions is challenging. Monitoring techniques that use innovative diagnostic tools to examine building deficiencies can be extremely useful. With these tools and techniques we can find appropriate solutions for improving long-term building performance while preserving built heritage. Studying building envelopes and their interior environments has long been considered a discipline that evolved in parallel with the Modern movement. However as early as 1918 the discipline of Bauphysik (building physics) was made available through literature and research by companies specializing in energy plants and the heating industry (Tomlow 2006 13). Today building physics is recognized as an essential discipline that provides necessary
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tools for the examination and understanding of responses to climate. It also helps us appreciate what early pioneers were aiming to achieve through the use of thin-skin technologies (fig. 3). In many ways the current debate on sustainability is not much different from the public health debate of the 1920s. More collaboration and research—on environmental monitoring and on climate control systems and the conservation of modern buildings—should be targeted to identify potential collaborations within the discipline of building physics to advance this area of practice.
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science along with material research could advance physical conservation and improve building performance. Many professionals building owners and technicians in the construction industry would benefit from increased expertise to contribute to a more sustained approach to maintaining building performance.
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Kyle Normandin is an Associate Principal and Architectural Conservator for Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates (WJE), a global firm of engineers, architects, and materials scientists specializing in the assessment and restoration of historic and contemporary buildings, structures, and national landmarks. For more information about WJE, please visit www.wje.com.
LOOKING AHEAD
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The physical conservation of modern buildings shares similar approaches to the preservation of more traditional buildings of previous eras. Certainly the construction of modern thin-skin buildings requires more frequent monitoring and maintenance; in some cases where building assembly failures are systemic wide-scale intervention may need to be considered. Given the short life span of the materials more loss of original building materials may be imminent leading to the need for increased building system and material replacement. However more focused research and training in building
Design and Management, 2d rev. ed., ed. Edward D. Mills, 140–80. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Allen, John. 1994. “Conservation of modern buildings.” In Building Maintenance and Preservation: A Guide for
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Britton, Karla. 2001. August Perret. New York: Phaidon. Chandler, Ian, ed. 1991. Repair and Renovation of Modern Buildings. New York: McGraw-Hill. Cunningham, Allen. 1998. Modern Movement Heritage. London: E. and F. N. Spon. Davies, Colin. 1988. High Tech Architecture. New York: Rizzoli International Publications. De Jonge, Wessel. 2002. “The technology of change: The Van Nelle Factories in transition.” In Back from Utopia, the Challenge of the Modern Movement, ed. Hubert-Jan Henket and Hilde Heynen, 44–59. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers. ———. 2005. Van Nelle: Monument in Progress. Rotterdam: Uitgeverij “De Hef.” ———. 2008. “Comparing the preservation of the 1920s metal and glass curtain walls of the sanatorium “Zonnestraal” (1928–31) and the Van Nelle Factories (1928–31).” In Restoring Postwar Heritage, Preservation Technology Dossier 8, ed. Theodore H. M. Prudon and Kyle C. Normandin, 27–72. New York: Docomomo US. Mills, Edward. 1994. Building Maintenance and Preservation: A Guide for Design and Management. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Prudon, Theodore H. M. 2008. Preservation of Modern Architecture. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Tomlow, Jos. 2006. “Introduction: Building science as reflected in Modern Movement literature.” In Climate and Building Physics in the Modern Movement. Preservation Technology Dossier 9, ed. Jos Tomlow and Ola Wedebrunn, 6–16. Paris: Docomomo International.
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FEATURE | The Beauty of Greater Paris
THE BEAUTY OF GREATER PARIS Text: Bertrand Lemoine
Bertrand Lemoine is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and the National School of Bridges and Roads, and is an accredited architect in France. He is currently Director of Research at C.N.R.S. (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) Until 2010, he was Director of the National School of Architecture; Paris La Villette, and until October 2013 he was General Director of the International Workshop of Greater Paris. Lemoine is a specialist in both the historical and current events of architecture, construction, and in particular, the metals of Paris and the surrounding areas in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He has authored 41 books and approximately thirty exhibitions. He is the director of the Journal STEEL, an architectural magazine. www.bertrandlemoine.fr
Beauty is not a concept that is spontaneously evoked when we think of Greater Paris in its entirety even if the focus on Paris itself induces the image of a city that is particularly harmonious. It is precisely the tension between a type of beauty that can be agreed upon and that of a beauty that can be discovered that is the cause of an identity crisis of Greater Paris seen as a larger metropolis. The beauty of Paris as a historical center is widely celebrated by writers painters photographers and filmmakers alike. It is beauty that is understood by all and attracts 44 million tourists each year making it the world s primary tourist destination. Its beauty is multi-dimensional: monuments buildings public spaces architectural details objet d arts the banks of the Seine…
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The beauty of the surrounding areas that make up Greater Paris exists to us differently: open spaces scenery and forests but also factories roads and high tension lines. While this is another type of beauty these things are more commonly associated with ugliness. This beauty differs from what characterized the City of Paris itself - that of the beauty of centrality and density - even if a strong link exists between these two concepts. The density of central Paris is not only a question of the ratio of inhabitants per square meter; it is also a matter of an urban density and logically has us question the usage of space. Across Greater Paris there is a clear association between these two types of beauty: of density and of open space. It could be considered as isotropic (notion dear to
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late Bernardo Secchi) -- both the beauty of the center and the beauty of open space. There is beauty that is rooted in details. That could be associated with the beauty of wide landscapes perspectives or views from afar. The conforming of proportions - that one could call harmony - or the art of things resonating with each other… these are also keys to the beauty of a metropolis. A dimension of heritage is also important for understanding the idea of beauty. Preserving the city s heritage is essential especially since such a precious and shared asset slowly renews as life goes on. Creating beauty is difficult. We must ask ourselves what is the role of architects landscape architects municipal leaders engineers those who create contemporary beauty since it is nothing less than our future?
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How do we preserve and develop what exists and what parts can be reused while creating beautiful new spaces and architectural projects? The responsibility of constructing such a contemporary beauty does exist but cannot be limited to the matter of heritage. The dimensions of fragility change and transformation lie under the concept of beauty which therefore cannot be related to stagnation. They are contrary to an idea that beauty is stagnant. As the light changes a different beauty is made - just like as nature changes with the seasons. What moves and what changes refer to a perception of beauty much more linked to our current times – as evidenced by Impressionism cinema and photography. How do we work with this changing duality? How do we subscribe to a perspective where the ephemeral or even current events can be the creator of beauty? Embracing such a perspective on beauty that is to say one that evolves over time allows beauty not to be stagnant neither unmovable. The 20th century has deconstructed the canons of traditional
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beauty based on the representation of nature and the human body and has tried to extract an essence that goes beyond simple literal representation. Following up the rise in power of techniques of representation a brutal questioning occurred at a time that was brutal itself. This radical evolution has tried to create a different type of beauty: the analysis of various sectors in order to understand more deeply the ways of the world. Perhaps it is about the re-enchantment of the world through deconstructionism; raising the question of how to reinvent beauty in a changing society. Discussing the nature of beauty requires that we refer to questions of representation of perception of sharing - and therefore that of social linkage. What is the connector that makes us come to an agreement on what is beautiful? If something evokes a beauty and touches us then we must ask ourselves what is the primal source of beauty? Beauty is first and foremost a construction a search for a transformation through perception and the sharing of that particular perception. The reflections generated by such a multi dimensional beauty encourage the Greater Paris initiative throughout all its projects and actions
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to always ask itself about what is beauty so that this concept would be at the core of the project and would become a matter of public interest. It is in the constant desire to create beauty that it is possible to build a more harmonious society.
The New “Greater Paris” is a development that includes Paris and its surrounding suburbs. It aims to improve the living environment of residents, to address territorial inequalities and build a sustainable city. The Greater Paris comes down to 5 major projects the completion of which is planned for 2030: • A sustainable and creative city • A new housing supply • A modern and extensive transport network • A new metro for the Grand Paris • Contracts Development
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