Does architects' furniture differ from that of the designers?

Odile Decq

Architect & Urban planner

Odile Decq is a French architect and urban planner. International renown came in 1990 with her first major commission: La Banque Populaire de l’Ouest in Rennes, France. Since then, she has been faithful to her fighting attitude while diversifying and radicalizing her research. Being awarded The Golden Lion of Architecture during the Venice Biennale in 1996 acknowledged her early and unusual career. Other than just a style, an attitude or a process, Odile Decq’s work materializes a complete universe that embraces urban planning, architecture, design and art. Her multidisciplinary approach was recently recognized with the Jane Drew Prize in 2016, and she was honored with Architizer’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017 for her pioneering work, but also her engagement and contribution to the debate on architecture. In 2018, she received an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, in recognition of her outstanding contributions in building science, design and education. The same year in October, she received the ECC Architecture Award 2018 for her contribution both as an architect and educator, and in November an Honorary Fellowship from The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland. Odile Decq has been teaching architecture for the past 25 years. She has been invited to be a guest professor in prestigious universities such as the Bartlett (London), the Kunstakademie (Vienna & Düsseldorf), SCI-Arc (Los Angeles, CA), Columbia University (New York, NY), and more recently at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design (Cambridge, MA). In France, she was Head of l’École Spéciale d’Architecture (ESA) in Paris from 2007 to 2012. Following this experience, she created her own school in Lyon in 2014: the Confluence Institute for Innovation and Creative Strategies in Architecture, recently accredited by the Royal Institute of British Architects. In 2018, Odile Decq has opened a traveling exhibition about the Studio’s work (“Horizons”) at the House of Art in Ostrava (Czech Republic) and has been invited to create two exhibitions (“Phantom’s Phantom”, “Time-Space-Existence”) during the 16th annual Biennale of Architecture in Venice. Amongst other projects, she is currently working on a luxury residential tower in Barcelona (“Diagonal 0”); a hi-end office building in Paris (“Twist”); and a set of 5 experimental houses in China (“Flying Horse House”). Her most recent completed projects include Study Hall (Lyon, France, 2017); Le Cargo (Paris, France, 2016); La Résidence Saint-Ange (Seyssins, France, 2015); Fangshan Tangshan National Geopark Museum (Nanjing, China, 2015); GL Events Headquarters (Lyon, France, 2014); FRAC Bretagne (Rennes, France, 2012); Phantom: Opéra Garnier Restaurant (Paris, France, 2011) and the MACRO Contemporary Art Museum (Rome, Italy, 2010).

Hugo Haas & Alphonse Sarthout

Architects & Designers - ciguë

We are an architecture and design practice based near Paris. With over 200 projects completed in 13 different countries, our studio and its team of 25 people have acquired a broad range of experience across culture, hospitality, housing, fashion and art. Ciguë was initially established in 2003 as a carpentry and joinery workshop while founding partners Camille Bénard, Hugo Haas, Guillem Renard and Alphonse Sarthout were studying architecture at Paris La Villette. This transdisciplinary approach bridging craft, science and poetry has been at the core of our practice since day one. Context, function and matter shape a fundamental interaction in our process – instinctively guiding the way we conceptualize a space and how we approach the dichotomy between art and utility. Greatly interested in the crossover between scales and disciplines, we look at each project as an opportunity to ask questions, open dialogues, take risks and experiment – resulting in an ever-evolving approach tailored to every project.

Lionel Blaisse

Journalist

A former architect, a journalist, author, and consultant specializing in architecture and design.

Claire Fayolle

Journalist