Animal? – Patrick Berger, architect, Paris

March 6 – May 8, 2014

LECTURE SERIES

March 5, 2014
Honorary lecture & opening of the exhibition
Patrick Berger

March 24, 2014
Annick Lesne
Physicist, Mathematician, Biologist

April 9, 2014
Jean-Louis Giavitto
Computer Scientist

April 30, 2014
Guy Théraulaz
PhD in Neuroscience and Ethology

Archizoom will grant Patrick Berger carte blanche for his exhibition Animal? and the accompanying book, published by Presses du Réel and PPUR. Visitors will have the opportunity to (re)visit the research undertaken by this Parisian architect during his twenty years teaching as professor at the EPFL.
Patrick Berger’s very first works, such as the transformation of the Le Palace theatre – an iconic Parisian night-time venue – or the publication Panauti, une ville au Népal, set the bar for the number of projects that have been produced since then until today. The architect consistently focuses on experimentation, drawing and teaching. His questions demand answers that are each more surprising than the next and each responding to very different programs.
Animal ? displays recent architectural conceptions within a set-up that lets them echo older projects, scientific and theoretical work, and even fictional proposals. The study undertaken at the EPFL titled animal architecture / human architecture addresses the modelling of metropolitan morphogenesis.
The conjugation of these two types shed intriguing and heretofore unseen light on the drawings of the Canopée des Halles in Paris. Other projects and completed works are exhibited, like the church Saint-Paul-de-la-Plaine in Saint-Denis and the large headquarter project in Rueil-Malmaison.
During his research, creations and exhibitions, Patrick Berger provides users with the key to the many forms of life that he builds. He has also provided his students with a set of incredibly diverse tools to reflect on and progress in the architecture profession.

La Canopée, rénovation des Halles Crédit projet : Patrick Berger et Jacques Anziutti Conception architecturale Patrick Berger Crédit image : L’Autre Image

Nous remercions l’entreprise IMPLENIA pour son soutien à la production de l’exposition.

The Book

Le titre Animal ? s’inspire des interprétations diverses faites par le public du projet de la Canopée pour les Halles à Paris. Chacun y voyait une forme animale ou végétale.
La structure de cet ouvrage est composée de deux entités qui dialoguent entre elles : les textes rédigés par Patrick Berger, abordant plusieurs thématiques liées à l’architecture et à la recherche; et des documents graphiques (dessins à main levée, photographies, documents d’agence, …), ayant leur propre autonomie. Le livre alterne ainsi des textes et des séquences de «portfolio». L’ouvrage s’organise en 8 blocs distincts, proposant chacun un recueil de textes et de réflexions de Patrick Berger sur l’architecture et sa signification.
L’ouvrage est publié par les Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes avec les Presses du réel, à l’occasion de l’exposition éponyme à l’EPFL de mars à mai 2014.

Exhibition views