Today, innovation concerns all projects. Be they digital, technological, industrial or construction, it is regarding the construction materials and the building envelopes where you see the most spectacular innovations. However, under a thermo-reactive skin, less visible innovations are in progress, though no less radical. According to the Larousse dictionary, “innovation is a process of influence that leads to social change of which the effect consists in rejecting existing social norms and proposing new ones”. Such a definition broadens the scope of innovation appraisal and embraces the process of project conception. L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui chose to present projects that cover a wide range of innovations in the following areas: construction processes, collaborative methods, mobilization of local resources, reactivation of ancient know-how, urban, cultural and social revitalization.

An issue on innovations cannot but address the challenges of BIM (Building Information Model) and the way it participate in the redefinition of the architect’s role as mediator and creator. 3D printing but also tall wooden constructions are also part of what L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui has explored. Finally, innovation also includes tenders and the 409 issue presents a study of the “innovative call for tender”, “Réinventer Paris”, for which the laureates will be announced at the end of the year.