MATERIA ARQUITECTURA #18 | December 2018 | pp.

22-29 ISSN: 0718-7033 Interview

Lacaton & Vassal: Open Conditions for Permanent Change. Interview with Reception Date: December 27th 2018
Anne Lacaton
Acceptance Date: January 10th 2019

KEYWORDS Reprogramming | Obsolescence | Freedom of use | Open

project | Appropriation

Lacaton & Vassal: Open

Conditions for Permanent
Change. Interview with
Anne Lacaton
Interview by José Mayoral Moratilla
Realized in Lacaton & Vassal Architects Office, Paris (December 21st, 2018).

Anne Lacaton, founding partner of Lacaton & Vassal, is a professor at ETH Zurich and has been a visiting
professor at ETSAM, EPFL, TU Delft and Harvard University, among other institutions. The work of Lacaton
& Vassal has been widely published, including monographs in 2G and El Croquis, and has been recognized
with the granting of the EU Mies Award in 2019.
From their first house, Maison Latapie, to the transformation of 530 dwellings in Bordeaux, Lacaton and
Vassal’s approach aims to create open conditions to facilitate permanent change. Expanding the space,
doubling the height, and increasing the structural capacity are several of the spatial strategies they employ
to embrace evolution and change.

22
Lacaton & Vassal: Open Conditions for Permanent Change. Interview with Anne Lacaton José Mayoral Moratilla

How does contemporary architecture deal with obsolescence? “A part of everything, no

Obsolescence is not typically considered within the field of architecture. matter how unfavorable,
However, designers of the built environment have the capacity to integrate can be incorporated
obsolescence by acknowledging a building’s lifespan and the reality that all
architectural elements endure for different periods of time. Throughout our within the existing
studies and practice we have been interested in freedom of use, a theme very situation. There is always
much connected to obsolescence. Ensuring maximum freedom of use can
generate the renewal of spaces, granting them with further lives. something to update, to
readapt, and to maintain
As opposed to starting from a blank slate, your strategies focus on incorporating
the context by adding, transforming, and reprogramming. From your (…) It’s essential to trust
perspective, does the concept of obsolete architecture not exist? Does every the value of the existing.
architectural work have the potential to be reused, rethought and readapted?
And, for this, analysis
Yes. We believe that a part of everything, no matter how unfavorable, can be is critical.”
incorporated within the existing situation. There is always something to update,
to readapt, and to maintain. Our methodology involves a period of detailed
observation to better understand the given conditions. We then work with what
we have to reimagine and reinvent something new from it. It’s essential to trust
the value of the existing. And, for this, analysis is critical.

I would like to talk about the Plus project. The French government's policy
implied the demolition of many housing projects from the '60s and '70s. Were Plus is a study conducted by Frédéric Druot, Anne
Lacaton, and Jean Philippe Vassal for the French
these high-rise housing blocks considered obsolete? Ministry of Culture and Communication and the French
Department of Architecture and Heritage. Source:
Not only the buildings but also the neighborhoods in which they were built lacatonvassal.com
were considered obsolete, most of which were in suburban areas. At the time
of construction, there was a future vision that showed how modern life in the
modern world should be lived. While living conditions improved temporarily, the
work remained unfinished because no infrastructure followed the construction
of the housing units. There was no public transit or facilities that could transform
these places into parts of the city. These areas gradually became isolated as
many families started to leave. The national program of demolition in France
“The national program of renovation of public social
reacted to the obsolescence of these buildings; some of them were renovated
housing buildings was introduced in the early 2000s. It
while others were demolished. The French government used demolition as an planned the demolition and reconstruction of around
easy solution after many years of avoiding the deterioration of the situation. 150,000 dwellings and the renovation of about 250,00
dwellings.” Source: Lacaton, A. (in conversation) (2016).
Even though many of the buildings were functional from a structural point of Approaching Buildings form the Interior. In W. Nägeli
view and their deficiencies were primarily attributed to poor insulation and a & N. Tajeri (Eds.), Small Interventions: New Ways of
lack of facilities, many of them were demolished. Living in Post-war Modernism. Bassel, Switzerland:
Birkhauser, p. 97.

Have all the buildings that were initially marked to be demolished been
destroyed?

A lot of them. Over 150,000 dwellings have been demolished. The units were
supposed to be rebuilt, but this has not been the case. While there is a great

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MATERIA ARQUITECTURA #18 | December 2018 Interview

demand for housing, the French government is actually losing units because a
significant number of blocks have been demolished. The buildings that were
rebuilt don’t have a much longer life. A significant focus on energy saving has
inhibited discussions about extending the lifespan of the buildings. Reflecting
on extending the life of a building is not part of the discussion as there is a
significant focus on energy saving. However, today, residential architecture and
unit layouts are not very different from that of the '60s and '70s. In my opinion,
the public debate should focus on the question of materials and how to face
a change in the life of the building over 50 years. We should engage in the
question of how spaces and structures are defined, as well as architecture’s
environment. We believe that through observation of the existing context and
employing strategies such as densification and highlighting inherent qualities,
we can respond to the building's ability to change. It isn’t necessary to start
from a blank slate, but rather, to focus on integrating a capacity for permanent
adaptation within the existing structure. This, in turn, is inseparable to the use
defined by the people who inhabit the space. We cannot talk about architecture
if we do not bring people and program into the discussion.

Are the strategies that you mention above applied to many of your projects?

In FRAC Nord-Pas de Calais, the strategy centered around adding a new

FRAC (Dunkerque, France, 2015) is a 11,129 m2 complex structure to double the use and improve the quality of the space instead
containing artwork storage space, exhibition rooms,
of transforming the existing in a constraining way. By doing this, we solved
and education facilities designed by Lacaton & Vassal.
It is located in an old boat warehouse on Dunkerque technical problems such as security and increased energy saving. In the housing
port. The project keeps the warehouse in its entirety projects, by extending the area, we solve the problem of fire security, because
and creates a double of it for containing the program.
“Under a light and bioclimatic envelope, a prefabricated
a new structure can provide more resistance against fire while simultaneously
and efficient structure determines free, flexible and helping with acoustics. The winter garden offers insulation more effectively
evolutionary platforms, with few constraints, fit to the than mineral wood while at the same time generates space for living. These
needs of the program.” Source: lacatonvassal.com
strategies engage with the obsolescence of the buildings by reimagining how
we can use the materials and the space. For us, materials are never considered
from just one dimension. Materials must have two or three positive values,
and we try to use as little as possible to maximize the space. For the School
L’École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Nantes
of Architecture in Nantes, we did a diagram of the weight and volume of the
(Nantes, France, 2009) is a 26,837 m2 educational facility
for 1,000 students designed by Lacaton & Vassal. The material and, surprisingly, the materials used for construction, namely concrete
design scheme creates a set of diverse situations of and glass, were less than ten per cent of the building’s volume. For us, it is
interest to the school, the city, and the landscape,
allowing extensions and future evolution. Volumes with
always interesting to extract what isn’t essential. We seek to provide more
non-attributed functions are open to appropriations, space, more capacity for the building. Less material means less of a risk of
new interventions and reconversion. “Like a degradation. In fact, obsolescence occurs more frequently in light-weight
pedagogical tool, the project questions the program
and the practices of the school as much as the norms, materials, such as cladding, that do not have a long lifespan. As opposed to
technologies and its own process of elaboration.” these materials, we use concrete and steel as joint frames to allow for more
Source: lacatonvassal.com
precision in the details throughout the construction process, ensuring a longer
lifespan for the materials. We aim to reduce the structure and partitions to a
minimum, allowing people to add finishes at the end of the process.

24
Lacaton & Vassal: Open Conditions for Permanent Change. Interview with Anne Lacaton José Mayoral Moratilla

According to the idea of firmitas established by Marcus Vitruvius, pursuing

Firmitas (solidity) is for Vitruvius one of the three
solidity is an indisputable objective for every building. This principle has qualities all architecture must have, being the other two
remained fundamental to this day and has become an essential base for utilitas (usefulness) and venustas (beauty). This trilogy
the contemporary conception of both architecture and urbanism. Architects may be a simplification whose origin would be found on
the summary translation of Vitruvius' treatise published
design buildings with an idea of permanence, assuming that their design will in 1674 by the French a physiologist Claude Perrault.
persist indefinitely. Do you consider the temporary nature of your buildings? See: González Moreno-Navarro, J. L. (1996). Los
tratados históricos como documentos para la historia de
la construcción, in Actas del Primer Congreso Nacional
There is a relationship between solidity, lifespan, and temporality. A building
de Historia de la Construcción, Madrid, pp. 255-260.
must, simultaneously, be permanent and have the capacity to change. While
the structure is permanent, the use is temporal. We like to engage with this
combination. This does not mean that temporality is something light or Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (1st Century BC), was a Roman
architect and engineer. He is the author of the only
unfinished, it means that the structure offers an initial condition while integrating surviving treatise of architecture from ancient times, De
the capacity for variation at any time – use in the short term and the changing architectura (On Architecture). Source: britannica.com
of function in the long-term. We like to think that buildings should offer these
conditions simultaneously. Structure, as we conceive it, can be considered
permanent because is not a constraint but rather, a means to provide a base
of floors and spaces. In this way, anything can unfold inside. It is about creating
different architectural components that overlap but are not constrained by the
same layers. The ground layer and the structural layer are not the same as the
envelope layer or the use layer. We aim to produce conditions for permanence
and for permanent change.

How do you apply this understanding of permanence throughout your design

process?

One example that illustrates this idea is the School of Architecture in Nantes,
which is an urban infrastructure project where the first layer is architecture.
However, we see how there is an emerging layer of public life. There are many
spaces and thresholds between public life and urban life. We designed this
building with the understanding that it could transform into something else. I
think it’s an example of the possibility of permanent use and permanent change.
The scale of change is much longer, but the freedom of use is permanent. When
we design buildings, we seek to create open conditions for future functions and
prepare the building to have several lives.

Your projects have a certain degree of incompleteness or openness. There are

extreme cases such as the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, in which the intervention
is minimal as you merely provide accessibility and ensure habitability. What is Palais de Tokyo (Paris, 1937, 2001-2014) is a 24,300 m2
exhibition space for contemporary art and creation.
the level of incompleteness that architecture should aim for? At the time of its complete rehabilitation, it become
the largest center of contemporary art in Europe. The
Rather than incompleteness, it is the moment in which we stop the design building, built for the 1937 International Exhibition (on
the Quai de Tokio), has hosted since then different visual
of the project and the construction, and hand it over for someone to use, to
arts institutions. The first phase of the rehabilitation
appropriate. Of course, this depends on the client and the brief. When we work was opened to the public in 2001; the second, in
for public clients, we have to provide everything, but in this type of project, 2014. “The public dimension is the primary focus of
this facility dedicated to contemporary art.” Sources:
we can oversize space to provide openness. We do not mean oversizing every palaisdetokyo.com; lacatonvassal.com

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MATERIA ARQUITECTURA #18 | December 2018 Interview

“We cannot talk about function but providing unprogrammed extra space is extremely important
because it is the space where you have no special technical requirements.
architecture if we Incompleteness implies leaving space for the user, as we do not want to
do not bring people provide too many constraints. We aim to create open conditions and eliminate
constraints for the users.
and program into the
discussion.” This extra space allows you to include an undefined program without
constraints that can be used in many ways.

Moreover, this is a place where appropriation can finally happen.

At your lecture at Harvard GSD 'Freedom of Use' in 2015, you insisted on

'Freedom of Use' was a lecture given by Anne Lacaton
and Jean-Philippe Vassal at Harvard GSD on August opening possibilities, offering freedom. Could you argue that design is
2015 (publication available). The architects opened contrary to flexibility and freedom of use? In other words, the more designed
their lecture “with a manifesto: study and create an
and detailed architecture is, the less room it leaves for further interpretations?
inventory of the existing situation; densify without
compressing individual space; promote user mobility,
access, choice; and most importantly, never demolish.” I think in a way, yes. However, it is not completely linked to the issue of details.
Source: gsd.harvard.edu. Available at: www.youtube. It depends on how we define detail. On the other hand, it means that a space
com/watch?v=zdgYGkQM9zc
is allowed to have a use other than the predetermined one. Even if we must
fulfill the program of the brief, the program requirements can be implemented
in different ways. Flexibility is not about moving walls, but rather, how space
can allow for variation of use beyond what is required by the program. The
program is taken as a kind of guideline, not as a result, and certainly not
as an obligation. In the design of a project it is crucial to not assign spaces
predetermined uses. We imagine that a classroom could be a living room and
a place to do nothing. We make certain that it is ready for different uses as
we try to limit the statement 'function creates form'. Even if we know several
examples that work well, it is not our way of working. For us, the interesting
duality is in the structure and the infill.

You encourage freedom of use and avoid predefining a set of possibilities

for particular spaces. Have you ever been surprised by the way people use
your buildings?

Constantly. For example, in the first house (Maison Latapie), we included

Maison Latapie (1993, Floirac, France) is a 185 m2 low
budget family house designed by Lacaton & Vassal.
a winter garden, and we had in mind that it would be an indoor garden.
“It's a simple volume on a rectangular base that posits However, the clients never planted anything inside, they filled it with different
two open platforms. On a metal frame, one half, on kinds of furniture – old furniture, new furniture, garden furniture. They created a
the street side, is covered with opaque fiber-cement
sheeting, and the other half, on the garden side,
combination which we might have never dared to propose, but they did it, and
with transparent polycarbonate sheeting, forming a it is fantastic. Many housing projects are appropriated differently from what we
conservatory.” Source: lacatonvassal.com initially had in mind. The principle of the 'open project' is based in the fact that
we trust people in how they choose to use the space. We do not feel that we
have to show people how to use space but rather, we provide them with the
conditions that allow their own creativity to emerge.

26
Lacaton & Vassal: Open Conditions for Permanent Change. Interview with Anne Lacaton José Mayoral Moratilla

When people use your buildings in unexpected ways, are you always “The principle of the
pleasantly surprised?
'open project' is based
Sometimes people use space badly. For example, when they place furniture in
front of the light. This is part of the risk and part of the success, the randomness
in the fact that we trust
that we have to assume and to accept. There is always the hope that the next users people in how they
will do something else. It is true that, all in all, we are usually surprised positively. choose to use the space.
Beyond the use of your buildings, your projects do not seem to be attached We do not feel that we
to a particular program. Could the School in Nantes take on another program have to show people
in the future?
how to use space but
Yes. That project could turn into housing or another program. For example, the
fact that we did not include a basement for car parking because we oversized
rather, we provide them
construction over the ground level, means that at any moment the car parking with the conditions that
floor could take on another function. During the construction process, the city allow their own creativity
decided to create a new line of transport, and they allowed us to reduce the
number of parking spaces that led to gaining 1,000 square meters for the use to emerge.”
of the school. After some slight modifications during construction, this area
turned into studio space. As you can see, the open project starts from the
beginning of the design process and allows for user participation.

In many of your projects you have decided, as a design strategy, to increase

the area or the structural strength, going far beyond the project requirements.
This allows for future flexibility and adaptability. Does this increase in area
imply a more significant budget? Is it hard for you to convince the client?

Not at all. It is evident that, at the beginning of the design process, our goal
is connected with the appreciation of the site but also with the budget we
have as we aim to do the maximum with the same amount. For substantial
projects, we sometimes think that we have too much budget. However, for
other programs such as housing and schools, where budget is limited, the most
important thing for us is to oversize the space of use without increasing the
cost. These goals make us think of different ways of building, considering the
construction economy from the early stages of the project. The idea is not to
do less but rather to establish hierarchy and to do more. This is something that
we understood very early on in our careers. For the first house that we did in
Maison Bordeaux (Bordeaux, France, 1999) is a 340 m2
Bordeaux, the budget was low, and we knew that if we were able to manage
residential space. The house was set up by Lacaton &
the budget, we would get more freedom to design. It is about the efficiency Vassal “in an old cookie factory that occupies the whole
of construction and using materials in the best possible way. When you look of the 50 x 10 meters plot.” Source: lacatonvassal.com

carefully at catalogs of industrial products, you find that there are dimensions
that are more economical than others because the industrial process is more
efficient. We look at how the materials are produced in order to reach our
goal of giving more freedom and more space for use, without increasing the
budget. This is why working within the existing conditions is another parameter

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MATERIA ARQUITECTURA #18 | December 2018 Interview

that we consider. Usually, thinking of the construction costs implies doing less
Louis Sullivan (1856-1924) is an American architect. He
is considered the spiritual father of modern American
or restricting but for us it is the opposite.
architecture and is one of the pioneers of Skyscrapers.
He studied briefly at the first architectural school Louis Sullivan's well-known phrase 'Form follows function' and Le Corbusier
in the United States (founded in 1865 at MIT) and in definition of the house as a machine for living in, illustrate the modern
the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Back in Chicago, he
partnered Dankmar Adler. Frank Lloyd Wright worked movement's appreciation for functionality in architecture. However, you
at his firm as an apprentice for six years. Sullivan is create many undefined programmatic conditions, which increase the
the author of Autobiography of an Idea (1924) and
versatility of the spaces. As Aldo Rossi did in his book The Architecture of the
Kindergarten Chats (1901–02). Source: H.F. Koeper,
2019, in britannica.com City, do you oppose the functionality of the modern movement?

Modern architecture marks a moment in which everything is opened. If we

Aldo Rossi (1931-1997) is an Italian architect and
theoretician. He studied at the Facoltà di Architettura
look at what we call 'International Architecture', the opening of the façade
del Politecnico di Milano. He was a teacher at Politecnico is interesting as well as the separation of the layers of construction and the
di Milano, IUAV, Yale and Cornell. He received the modifications of the structural systems. For us, this change in the way of doing
Pritzker Prize in 1990. He is the author of L’architettura
della città (The Architecture of the City), first published
architecture, which is linked to the structural possibilities, is interesting. Our
in 1966. Source: J. Zukowsky, in britannica.com approach is not the opposite of this but rather a contemporary interpretation.
We are interested in the idea of potential infrastructure where anything can
The Architecture of the City (ed. Marsilio, 1966) is an happen. The reference we have in mind is Cedric Price’s Fun Palace in which
essay by Aldo Rossi that “established him as a leading
maximum freedom is given to space.
international theoretician. In the text he argued that,
over the course of history, architecture has developed
certain continuous forms and ideas, to the point that In terms of functionalism, the modern movement assumes that each space is
these are standard types in the collective memory that linked to a specific purpose. Although you incorporate many lessons from the
move beyond the scope of style and trends.” Source: J.
Zukowsky, in britannica.com
modern movement, is functionalism something that you reinterpret?

Some very functional parts can be present. However, if you provide extra space,
Cedric Price (1934–2003) was British architect and
writer. His vision of the city “expressed his sense of the constraints become different. This is why we are interested in doubling the
architecture’s moral obligations toward its users. size. We think that the combination of functional parts and undefined spaces
(…) He was determined that his work would not
impose physical or psychological constraints upon its
can lead to the right solution. Having very defined spaces is not a problem as
occupants nor reduce them to a standard form – unlike long as the equivalent area is free for any use.
typical modern architecture.” Source: moma.org
Other architects have shown their interest in the open project that allows users
Fun Palace was a large-scale project commissioned to participate in the evolution of buildings. In his manifesto L'Architecture
to Cedric Price by Joan Littlewood, founder of the Mobile, Yona Friedman proposes a city that adapts to the future needs of
Theater Workshop. It “was conceived for the East End
of London as a 'laboratory of fun' and 'a university of users. Archigram's Plug-in City is also a project designed to evolve with its
the streets'. Although it was never realized, unlike other users. Are these architects influential to you?
visionary projects of the 1960s it was fully intended to
be built. Designed as a flexible framework into which
programmable spaces can be plugged, the structure has
Yes. However, we also have other sources of inspiration such as greenhouses and
as its ultimate goal the possibility of change at the behest industrial buildings as they offer technical solutions. We are interested in the work
of its users.” Source: moma.org of the Dutch architect Herman Hertzberger and the relationship he establishes
between space and the participation of users. He considered that the structure
L'Architecture Mobile (1956) is a manifesto presented could provide this freedom. Frei Otto's work on housing is probably less known
by Yona Friedman at CIAM X. The aim was “to involve than his work on large-scale structures. He worked on the question of how housing
public opinion in formulating innovative principles for
designing the living environment or ‘habitat’.” Some
projects could provide freedom and not just a subdivision of spaces. He studied
of the principles in L'Architecture Mobile are: creating how you can finally introduce the next scale. Le Corbusier’s Dom-Ino house is also
elevated city space; restrain the land use; not to fascinating for us, due to its definition of routes and minimum architecture.
demolish; and compactness. Source: yonafriedman.nl

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Lacaton & Vassal: Open Conditions for Permanent Change. Interview with Anne Lacaton José Mayoral Moratilla

You seem interested in the coexistence of two systems that talk about different
Yona Friedman (Budapest, 1923) is a Hungarian architect,
degrees of temporality, indetermination, and openness. In the School in Nantes, artist and filmmaker. He founded (with J. Trapman) the
there is a primary structure with a maximum capacity and height that coexists Groupe d’Études d’Architecture Mobile (GEAM) in
with a secondary structure that is light, flexible, and removable. In many 1957. GEAM stated that “occupants must be made able
to decision making, and technology has to serve their
projects, you create defined programs rather than defined areas, such as in the individual wishes.” Source: yonafriedman.nl
University of Arts & Human Sciences of Grenoble. Do you identify yourself with
other architects such as John Habraken that also understand architecture as two Archigram was a highly influential group of avant-garde
systems: one being flexible versus another, which is more rigid? British architects (Warren Chalk, Peter Cook, Dennis
Crompton, David Greene, Ron Herron, and Michael
Webb) who published a magazine from 1961 to 1979
Habraken was one of the first to talk about this duality. We reflect on the
(most of their production took place on paper) *. “They
coexistence of infrastructure and structure, not as a concrete construction, but developed a 'high-tech', lightweight, infra-structural
instead as a way to provide ground. It is essential to call it 'ground' and not approach that stretched far beyond known technologies
(…). They devised autonomous dwellings and focused
'floor' because the ground is natural terrain which is limited in the city. The on survival technology; they experimented with mega-
natural ground is significant because you can do anything with it: you can dig, structures and modular construction systems**.” Sources:
or you can rebuild. This is why we are interested in multiplying the quality of *Sadler, S. (2005). Archigram, Architecture without
Architecture. Cambridge, MA: MIT. **aabookshop.net
the natural ground. In the School of Nantes, we decided that every floor should
allow us to build 1,000 kg per square meter, creating platforms to generate life
Plug-in City (1964) is a visionary urban megastructure
and uses. Le Corbusier found a way to slowly connect different levels using
conceived by Peter Cook (Archigram). Plug-in City
large ramps, extending the idea of ground: a stair or a lift is not the same. If you encourages “change through obsolescence: each building
can walk from one ground to another as you do in the city, there is a different outcrop is removable, and a permanent 'craneway'
facilitates continual rebuilding.” Source: moma.org
understanding of infrastructure. This pushes the Habraken´s idea of structure
and infill to its limits. Infill has a shorter life, starting with the one that the
architect brings for the first function, then the one that people incorporate ten Herman Hertzberger (Amsterdam, 1932) is a Dutch
architect. He designed flexible spaces and “interpretable
or twenty years later, but the life of infrastructure can be quite long. In cities, we zones which can be modified for different purposes.”
miss the ground, which is why we extend cities so much. It is the point at which Source: ajbuildingslibrary.co.uk
urban planning and architecture merge; the idea is that architecture is already
urban planning and that we do not need expansive masterplans anymore. Frei Otto (1925-2015) was a German architect and
inventor. Working with engineers and biologists, he
I would like to end the interview with your beginnings. How do you see developed adaptable and changeable structures. He
received the Prizker Prize (posthumously) in 2015. Source:
the relationship between your origins and your understanding of the open pritzkerprize.com
project? In Niger, you were in touch with local communities that were creative
in the construction of their dwellings. You also engaged with communities
University of Arts & Human Sciences (Grenoble,
that proved to be resilient as they could adapt to changes. Did this experience France, 2001) is a 5,062 m2 education facility designed
influence your understanding of architecture as an open project? by Lacaton & Vassal. Source: lacatonvassal.com

The ability to use any material and transform it into space or something else John Habraken (Bandung, Indonesia, 1928) is a Dutch
was a great lesson for us. We learned more than we built. Jean-Philippe was architect. He introduced the notion of 'Open Building',
by making “the distinction between the ‘support’ and
working for the urban department in the city of Niamey, and he was interested
the ‘infill’ by which a building can be adapted over time
in understanding urban conditions and extending the city in terms of networks, to unforeseen changes in programme and use.” Source:
for a better use of land. We learned a lot even though we were not totally sure Teerds, H., Habraken, J., & Havik, K. (2011). Define and Let
Go: An interview with John Habraken. OASE (85), 8–16.
what we would learn. After finishing architecture school, we thought that we
had learned enough, but this experience radically changed our approach to
architecture which became more open. The best lesson is to inquire into what Niamey is the national capital of Niger since 1926. It
has 978,000 inhabitants (estimated, 2012). Source:
is primarily needed, and what comes afterward. m britannica.com

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