#lan architecture

LAN Architecture, Carré Lumière, District Terres Neuves, Bègles, Bordeaux, France, 2015

LAN Architecture: Carré Lumière (79-unit residential scheme), Bègles, Bordeaux: 2009-2015

Surface area: 6,311 m²  |  Cost: € 8.1M excl. VAT  

A new, ecological and social living space geared to the 21st century.

The project’s richness and major interest lie in the possibility of inventing an urban lifestyle set in a highly experimental framework enabling the affirmation of new ecological and contemporary architectures. The diversity of architectural propositions and communal and private spaces had to ensure and enhance this specificity.

The first stage was to ‘sculpt’ the volumes in order to exploit their urban potential and intrinsic spatial qualities.

We directed our research towards a hybrid typology combining the house and the apartment.

The principle underlying our approach was that of stacking containers, and careful study of habitat modes, climatic conditions and the sun’s trajectory throughout the year suggested the way to organise this.

The project’s column-slab supporting structure has a system of lightweight façades providing ultra-high performance insulation levels.

The relative narrowness of the buildings dictated a strategic search for compactness. The idea of variable compactness introduced the notion of a housing unit’s adaptability to seasons and times of day. All residents have the possibility of using their exterior space as a windbreak, a mini-greenhouse or, conversely, as a means of cooling or ventilating.

The morphology of each unit stems from the wish to develop housing units enabling a variety of uses very simply and with no extra technological input. We are therefore proposing cross-building units with adaptable exterior spaces and at least two different orientations.

This topic as well as other important ones are addressed and studied at La Biennale Architettura 2016! 

With the theme, “Reporting from the Front”, the 15th International Architecture Exhibition is breaking ground in every area of architecture and interior design. The participants and award winners showcase their designs and innovations that are making waves in valuable areas of international architecture. While some focus on designing sustainably, the main focus is on deeper cultural issues such as segregation, inequality, access to sanitation, housing shortage, migration, and community participation. These topics all address architecture in the 21st century and what we can do to improve society through well thought out and thoroughly researched design. Below is an example of what can be found at the Biennale Archetettura.