The Art of Detail
“In the fold of a drape lies the whole of Rome,” wrote the philosopher Anne Cauquelin (often quoted in AA) around the same time in her Essai de philosophie urbaine (PUF, 1982). Whether in a bolt, or in the assembly of a wooden post, the grooves of a die-cast concrete, the joinery from a field of salvaged iron, sometimes lies the entire intent of a project. “Anywhere, at any time, architecture, expert or ordinary, can shake us out of our torpor,” says Éric Lapierre in the pages that follow.
An architectural element, a constructive detail or a simple pattern not only have immense evocative power, but sometimes can also compose what the French architect calls “the marvelous element, from which we can deconstruct the entire poetic logic of the project.” This issue of AA explores some of these details, which underpin or embody all the poetry of their buildings, and which can only come from a non-artificial intelligence, that of the architect
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In this issue :
NEWS
Through the eyes of Anselm Kiefer ; Tribute to Jacques Lucan (1947-2023) ; Tribute to Andrea Branzi (1938-2023) ; The bookshop selection, Khalsi bookstore, Casablanca, Morocco ; Festival Extrem’City, Marseille ; Building “La Porte Bleue”, Pietri Architectes, Marseille ; Point of view “Building Brick by Brick”, Franck Houndégla ; Exhibition The Port of Gennevillers at the CAUE 92 ; The Reuse Notebook …
VIEWPOINTS
DESIGN – From Rubbles to Textile, by Anastasia de Villepin
PHOTOGRAPHY —L’Aubette, seen by Luc Boegly
ART – Lingzi JI’s Wide Shot, by Christelle Granja
PROFILE
Point Supreme’s Contemporary Vernacular, by Christophe Catsaros
They have created an architecture that is irreducibly Athenian, whilst simultaneously borrowing from many other countries that they are familiar with, having lived or simply travelled there (the Netherlands, Japan, the United States, Belgium and France). This cosmopolitanism blends into the work of architects Marianna Rentzou and Konstantinos Pantazis, who founded Point Supreme in 2008, without in any way detracting from, indeed emphasizing, the Hellenic accents of their work, which they achieve with local resources and know‑how. About the art of idiosyncratic composition.
REPORT
INTRODUCTION – Vital Signs, by Éric de Thoisy
INTERVIEW – The Poetics of Architecture, by Éric Lapierre
CARTE BLANCHE – Joint is More by Stéphane Maupin
EXPERTISE – Of Wood and Notches, the Art of Japanese Carpenters by Pierre Magnes
BUILDINGS
Fala Atelier, Suspended House, Porto, Portugal
HBAAT, Cultural centre and municipal cinema, Marcq-en-Baroeul ; Estaminet, Quesnoy-sur-Deûle, France
JAQ Architectes, Institute for Interdisciplinary Cancer Research, Lille, France
Flores i Prats, Théâtre des Variétés, Bruxelles, Belgium ; Casal Balaguer, Majorque, Spain; 18th Venice Architecture Biennale School, Brunete, Spain
Mars Architectes, block-of-flat boulevard Poniatowski, Paris 12e arrondissement, France
AAVP, building rue Frédérick Lemaître, Paris 20e arrondissement, France
Agora Arquitectura, MD22, Barcelone, Spain
Níall McLaughlin Architects, International Rugby Experience, Limerick, Ireland
TRENDS
In the news — Tarkett
Projets and products — AA’s selection
Produit innovant — Re-used ceramics
by Lisa Agostini
DISCOVER HERE
THE DRAWINGS OF THE DETAILS
SELECTED BY AA
FOR THIS 458 ISSUE
See also
