Create a better everyday space without breaking and changing

A 1960s apartment remodeled in 2017. 530 households were renovated without eviction, and residents had a spacious and well-lit terrace. [사진 하얏트재단]

“They have never demolished an existing building to build a new one. They believe that all buildings can be repurposed, recreated, and revived. Having worked that way for 34 years, they won the Pritzker Prize, the highest honor in the field of architecture.”

The New York Times wrote on the 16th (local time) introducing Pritzker Prize winners An Rakatong (65) and Jean Philip Bassal (67). The Pritzker Prize, called the’Nobel Prize in Architecture’, was awarded this year to the French architects duo, Rakatton and Basal, who maintained and upgraded the old buildings to the fullest. The New York Times said, “They have proven that technological, innovative, ecologically responsive remodeling is possible without nostalgia for the past.”

The Pale de Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art, Paris. [사진 하얏트재단]

This year’s Pritzker Prize winners’ projects changed the lives of the common people. The renovation of the old apartment gave it a wider terrace, and the construction was completed without eviction of the residents.

“There are too many cases of demolishing existing buildings that are still usable,” Rakatong said. “If you look closely and look at it in a new light, you can always find positive things out of what is now.”

Basal said, “When building a building, we did our best to harmonize the architecture and nature.” “Never break down, do not cut a tree, or cut a single flower. You have to take a good look at the memories of the things that were there, and listen to the stories of the people living there.”

This philosophy was also revealed in the 2012 Paris’ Palette de Tokyo expansion project. They renovated the old building into a contemporary art museum that attracted attention in Europe, using simple materials to a minimum while maintaining the original appearance of the building used at the 1937 Expo in Paris.

Bordeaux houses with a sense of openness. [Philippe Ruault 촬영]

Their representative work is a renovation project built in the 1960s outside Paris. The floor was expanded to increase the size of the room, and a balcony and a winter garden were added. “Architecture is becoming more and more technologically important, more complex and more regulated,” Bassal said. We try to avoid it. Instead, I prefer to take care of the very simple elements that I don’t have to pay for: air and sunshine.

Rakatong and Basal say it should be designed so that the person who uses the space can use it creatively. In fact, they said, “I’m surprised to see what the residents come up with.” “The terrace was more of a place for activities than I thought. Some residents spend most of their time there.”

An Rakatong (left) and Jean Philip Bassal, who won the Pritzker Prize. Photographed by Laural Charlet, [사진 하얏트재단]

Not only are their projects less expensive and more environmentally sustainable, they also avoided the eviction of residents during construction. In 2017, they renovated apartments for 530 households in Grand Park near Bordeaux, renovated and expanded while residents stayed at home.

“If the inhabitants feel comfortable, happy, alone, or can look at the clouds, then architecture is created,” Bassal said. The two said that through Corona 19, they became more confident in their architectural philosophy. It means “the space where we live our daily life is so important”.

In 1996, when they were asked to redesign a public square in Bordeaux, they said, “It would be better to leave it as it is.” The Pritzker Prize jury said, “In this project, they did minimal work, such as replacing gravel, treating lime trees, and so on. This approach was a way to give new potential to what already exists.” It means that it is not best to change it unconditionally.

They said that’how the building will ultimately look’ is not a major concern. It means designing from the inside by focusing on the purpose or use of the space. I believe that when the process is good, the results are also good. They say, “We don’t seek aesthetic beauty. It should arise as a result of the creation process, not something we have to keep in mind from the start. Beauty always happens last.”

The two met at the Bordeaux School of Architecture in the late 1970s. The desert was their 2nd school. There I learned to call it a “poetic approach”. It’s a way to shade with basic materials like wood and fabric.

Eunjoo Lee, Senior Reporter of Culture [email protected]