Untitled
Pascal Häusermann
Prototype
2000
Pulicat Lake, India

Photography Julien Donado
Following the failure of the projects he worked on after his separation with his former partner Claude Costy (1931—) in 1972, Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) moved to Madras, India at the end of the nineties. Returning to the concepts which made him an acclaimed architect in the sixties, Häuserman rapidly considered a new hotel complex project of metal bubbles on the shore of the Pulicat Lake. For unknown reasons, only one prototype got completed and the overall project will never see the light of day.
Military Medical Hospital
Josip Osojnik
Slobodan Nikolić
Slobodan Nikolić
Institution
1981
Belgrade, Serbia
Photography Julien Donado
Costy and Häusermann separated in 1972. For the next couple of years, they worked individually on their on-going projects before spliting professionally. Costy left their family house in Minzier, Haute-Savoie to move to Paris where she started working on commissioned projects by a rather conservative clientele. She eventually worked with fellow architect Jacques Couëlle on two unfinished projects. For his part, Häusermann was commissioned to lead the renovation of Le Corbusier’s Immeuble Clarté as well as the neighbourhood of La Terrassière in Geneva. In 1981, he moved to Château des Avenières in Savoie from where he worked on an ambitious project of a hotel complex. Following the failure of the latter, Häusermann moved to Madras, India at the end of the nineties. Returning to his first love, he rapidlly considered a similar project with metal bubbles on the shore of the Pulicat Lake. The project which will never see the light of day.
Hotel Veliko Tarnovo
Nicola Nicolov
Public
1981
Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria
Photography Julien Donado
Costy and Häusermann separated in 1972. For the next couple of years, they worked individually on their on-going projects before spliting professionally. Costy left their family house in Minzier, Haute-Savoie to move to Paris where she started working on commissioned projects by a rather conservative clientele. She eventually worked with fellow architect Jacques Couëlle on two unfinished projects. For his part, Häusermann was commissioned to lead the renovation of Le Corbusier’s Immeuble Clarté as well as the neighbourhood of La Terrassière in Geneva. In 1981, he moved to Château des Avenières in Savoie from where he worked on an ambitious project of a hotel complex. Following the failure of the latter, Häusermann moved to Madras, India at the end of the nineties. Returning to his first love, he rapidlly considered a similar project with metal bubbles on the shore of the Pulicat Lake. The project which will never see the light of day.
Pavillon of International Exhibitions
Leonard Moskalevich
Public
1980
Minsk, Belarus
Photography Julien Donado
Costy and Häusermann separated in 1972. For the next couple of years, they worked individually on their on-going projects before spliting professionally. Costy left their family house in Minzier, Haute-Savoie to move to Paris where she started working on commissioned projects by a rather conservative clientele. She eventually worked with fellow architect Jacques Couëlle on two unfinished projects. For his part, Häusermann was commissioned to lead the renovation of Le Corbusier’s Immeuble Clarté as well as the neighbourhood of La Terrassière in Geneva. In 1981, he moved to Château des Avenières in Savoie from where he worked on an ambitious project of a hotel complex. Following the failure of the latter, Häusermann moved to Madras, India at the end of the nineties. Returning to his first love, he rapidlly considered a similar project with metal bubbles on the shore of the Pulicat Lake. The project which will never see the light of day.
Église Saint-André / Hôtel de Ville
Marius Depont
Religious
1980 / 1974
Bobigny, France
Photography Julien Donado
An active urbanist of the working-class suburbs of Paris throughout the nineteen-seventies, Marius Depont designed two cutting-edge buildings in Bobigny, north east of Paris. The project got generously supported by urbanist Michel Holley. On June 24th 1974, the city inaugurated its new Hôtel de Ville, a complex seven-floored concrete building featuring a sculptural facade of windows. In 1980, Depont unveils l’Église Saint-André, probably its most memorable creation. Still in activity, l’Église Saint-André features a harmonious mix of wood and concrete and is elevated by its skinny arrow-shaped bell tower. A few of the original furnitures got saved including a rare statue of Saint-Fiacre dating from 1850 as well as André Gence’s modern style stained glasses.
National Philharmonic Hall
Adis Pechonkin
Public
1980
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Photography Julien Donado
Costy and Häusermann separated in 1972. For the next couple of years, they worked individually on their on-going projects before spliting professionally. Costy left their family house in Minzier, Haute-Savoie to move to Paris where she started working on commissioned projects by a rather conservative clientele. She eventually worked with fellow architect Jacques Couëlle on two unfinished projects. For his part, Häusermann was commissioned to lead the renovation of Le Corbusier’s Immeuble Clarté as well as the neighbourhood of La Terrassière in Geneva. In 1981, he moved to Château des Avenières in Savoie from where he worked on an ambitious project of a hotel complex. Following the failure of the latter, Häusermann moved to Madras, India at the end of the nineties. Returning to his first love, he rapidlly considered a similar project with metal bubbles on the shore of the Pulicat Lake. The project which will never see the light of day.
Caisse d’Épargne
Edmond Lay
Comany
1980
Bordeaux, France
Photography Julien Donado
The construction of this monumental building by architect Edmond Lay (1930—2019) started in 1974 in the heart of Bordeaux, France. After some fruitful years spent teaching and working as an assistant to major architects, Edmond Lay flew back to France in 1961 where his designs got acclaimed by an ever-growing clientele. A commission by French bank La Caisse d’Épargne, the present case study got inaugurated in 1980. At the time of its construction, the neighbourhood was slowly becoming one of the city’s busiest business district.
Covered in agglomerated stones, the bulky and laid out volumes of this building offered a rare luminosity to the main circular hall. NYC’s Guggenheim Museum was an important source of inspiration to the design of Bordeaux’s new Caisse d’Épargne.
Covered in agglomerated stones, the bulky and laid out volumes of this building offered a rare luminosity to the main circular hall. NYC’s Guggenheim Museum was an important source of inspiration to the design of Bordeaux’s new Caisse d’Épargne.
Campus Lahnberge
Kurt Schneider
Helmut Spieker
Günter Niedner
Helmut Spieker
Günter Niedner
Public
1977
Marburg, Germany
Photography Julien Donado
Costy and Häusermann separated in 1972. For the next couple of years, they worked individually on their on-going projects before spliting professionally. Costy left their family house in Minzier, Haute-Savoie to move to Paris where she started working on commissioned projects by a rather conservative clientele. She eventually worked with fellow architect Jacques Couëlle on two unfinished projects. For his part, Häusermann was commissioned to lead the renovation of Le Corbusier’s Immeuble Clarté as well as the neighbourhood of La Terrassière in Geneva. In 1981, he moved to Château des Avenières in Savoie from where he worked on an ambitious project of a hotel complex. Following the failure of the latter, Häusermann moved to Madras, India at the end of the nineties. Returning to his first love, he rapidlly considered a similar project with metal bubbles on the shore of the Pulicat Lake. The project which will never see the light of day.
Untitled
François Stahly
Sculpture
1977
Vitry-Sur-Seine, France

Photography Étienne Revault
Costy and Häusermann separated in 1972. For the next couple of years, they worked individually on their on-going projects before spliting professionally. Costy left their family house in Minzier, Haute-Savoie to move to Paris where she started working on commissioned projects by a rather conservative clientele. She eventually worked with fellow architect Jacques Couëlle on two unfinished projects. For his part, Häusermann was commissioned to lead the renovation of Le Corbusier’s Immeuble Clarté as well as the neighbourhood of La Terrassière in Geneva.
Saint Jakobus
Heinz Baron
Religious
1976
Denzlingen, Germany
Photography Julien Donado
Costy and Häusermann separated in 1972. For the next couple of years, they worked individually on their on-going projects before spliting professionally. Costy left their family house in Minzier, Haute-Savoie to move to Paris where she started working on commissioned projects by a rather conservative clientele. She eventually worked with fellow architect Jacques Couëlle on two unfinished projects. For his part, Häusermann was commissioned to lead the renovation of Le Corbusier’s Immeuble Clarté as well as the neighbourhood of La Terrassière in Geneva.
Maison Familiale
Jean-Louis Chanéac
Private
1976
Aix-Les-Bains, France






Photography Raphaëlle Saint-Pierre
Jean-Louis Chanéac (1931—1993) decided to build his own residential house in Aix-Les-Bains, south-east of France where he wanted to see his children experience his own concepts of living. Completed in 1976, the house is situated on a very sloping land and metaphorically represents a bean pod. It harmoniously settles over the cliff and dynamic lines refer to the volumes of the surrounding mountains. The suggestive lines of the entrance door embrace visitors and take them inside a womb-like interior experience.
Church of the Holy Trinity
Fritz Gerhard Mayr
Fritz Wotruba
Fritz Wotruba
Religious
1976
Vienna, Austria
Photography Raphaëlle Saint-Pierre
Vienna’s Wotruba Churc was built on the initiative of Margarethe Ottilinger, based on an idea by sculptor Fritz Wotruba and plans by architect Fritz Gerhard Mayr (1931—). Ottilinger's motive was to shake people up in a Europe in which faith in God is fading and to show that forces that resist the spirit of unbelief are still effective. Consisting of 152 raw concrete blocks, Vienna’s Wotruba Church was built during 1974 and 1976 on the site of a former Nazi barracks. The windows are built into the irregular spaces between this asymetrical jumble of stark concrete slabs.
Unfortunately, Wotruba did not live to see his spectacular creation reach completion. He died in 1975, just a year shy of the building’s completion in 1976.
Unfortunately, Wotruba did not live to see his spectacular creation reach completion. He died in 1975, just a year shy of the building’s completion in 1976.
Central Téléphonique Murat
Pierre Vivien
Comany
1976
Paris, France
Photography Raphaëlle Saint-Pierre
Chanéac will build his own residential house in Aix-Les-Bains, south-east of France where he wanted to see his children experience his own concepts of living. Built in 1976, the house is situated on a very sloping land and metaphorically represents a bean pod. It harmoniously settles over the cliff and dynamic lines refer to the volumes of the surrounding mountains. The suggestive lines of the entrance door embrace visitors and take them inside a womb-like interior experience. The two bedrooms are situated on the second first at the back of the house in the two nutshell inspired bubbles. The female anatomy was a source of inspiration for the hous as both the entrance door and the inside stairwell show.
Auditorium Maurice Ravel
Henri Pottier
Charles Delfante
Serge Baudo
Charles Delfante
Serge Baudo
Public
1975
Lyon, France
Photography Raphaëlle Saint-Pierre
By the nineteen-seventies, architect Charles Delfante (1926—2012) was already enjoying an established reputation in Lyon after directing the major part of the reconstruction plan for the city. In partnership with friend architect Henri Pottier (1912—2000) and acoustician Confury, Delfante designed this stately auditorium in the busy neighbourhood of La Part-Dieu which he just finished building.
In 1972, the Orchestre National de Lyon first expressed its desire to find a new house, following on its growing reputation. As a consequence of the national Plan Musique innitiated by Marcel Landowski, a counsellor to the French Ministry of Culture, regional orchestras were getting better visibility. The freshly inaugurated neighbourhood of La Part-Dieu, which at first was mainly business-focusedt, rapidly included cultural venues. This 30 000 square meters scallop-shaped auditorium was mainly constructed in concrete and saw its volumes re-designed throughout its building process. Floating over a grid of stilts, the building got completed in three years. Serge Baudo conducted Berlioz’s enchanting Symphonie Fantastique for the opening night on February 14th 1975. In 1977, the Auditorium Maurice Ravel got offered its grand orgue by reputable organ builder Georges Danion, originally designed in 1878 on the occasion of the Exposition Universelle.
In 1972, the Orchestre National de Lyon first expressed its desire to find a new house, following on its growing reputation. As a consequence of the national Plan Musique innitiated by Marcel Landowski, a counsellor to the French Ministry of Culture, regional orchestras were getting better visibility. The freshly inaugurated neighbourhood of La Part-Dieu, which at first was mainly business-focusedt, rapidly included cultural venues. This 30 000 square meters scallop-shaped auditorium was mainly constructed in concrete and saw its volumes re-designed throughout its building process. Floating over a grid of stilts, the building got completed in three years. Serge Baudo conducted Berlioz’s enchanting Symphonie Fantastique for the opening night on February 14th 1975. In 1977, the Auditorium Maurice Ravel got offered its grand orgue by reputable organ builder Georges Danion, originally designed in 1878 on the occasion of the Exposition Universelle.
Cinq Stèles / Rämibühl
François Stahly
Sculpture
1975
Rämibühl, Switzerland

Photography Etienne Revault
For one night only, transdisciplinary artist Julian Harold will take over Herðubreið's theatre for an exclusive, site-specific and experimental performance titled Auðumbla. An array of flower arrangements, video projections, live poetry and music connecting local and international artists, Auðumbla immerses the audience in an idiosyncratic and self-enclosed world.
Mourning Hall
Ferdinand Keilmann
Public
1974
Bochum, Germany
Photography Etienne Revault
Salle Polyvalente
Pascal Häusermann
Patrick Le Merdy
Patrick Le Merdy
Public
1974
Douvaine, France

Photography CAU (Haute-Savoie)
The present project is among the very first Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) innitiated after his divorce and the split of his business with Claude Costy. In 1970, the city of Douvaine, situated close to the French - Swiss border, expressed a strong desire to renovate its centre. The municipal jury commissioned Häuserman after he just won the Grand Prix of the Cannes International Architecture contest. At the behest of the mayor, the architect first opted for a flying saucer inspired shape for the futrue sports hall. It will be the only building to actually get built out of a larger list. Since 2013, the municipality started renewal works.
Lenin Museum
Unknown
Public
1974
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Photography Etienne Revault
The present project is among the very first he innitiated after his divorce and the split of his business with Costy. In 1970, the city of Douvaine, situated close to the French - Swiss border, expressed a strong desire to renovate its centre. The municipal jury commissioned Häuserman after he just won the Grand Prix of the Cannes International Architecture contest. At the behest of the mayor, the architect first opted for a flying saucer inspired shape for the futrue sports hall. It will be the only building to actually get built out of a larger list. Since 2013, the municipality started renewal works.
Nevigeser Wallfahrtsdom
Gottfried Böhm
Religious
1973
Neviges, Germany
Photography Etienne Revault
The present project is among the very first he innitiated after his divorce and the split of his business with Costy. In 1970, the city of Douvaine, situated close to the French - Swiss border, expressed a strong desire to renovate its centre. The municipal jury commissioned Häuserman after he just won the Grand Prix of the Cannes International Architecture contest. At the behest of the mayor, the architect first opted for a flying saucer inspired shape for the futrue sports hall. It will be the only building to actually get built out of a larger list. Since 2013, the municipality started renewal works.
Les Arcades
Pascal Häusermann
Patrick Le Merdy
Patrick Le Merdy
Public
1973
Douvaine, France


Photography Raphaëlle Saint-Pierre
Located in Asnières, France, this fountain made of agglomerated stones by Swiss artist François Stahly (1911—2006) was conceived as a way to balance the functionalist style of the surrounding housing estates. Over the years, the fountain has been seriously vandalized and the Place du Nouveau Marché where it is located is nowadays not as busy as it used to be. Although part of a large series of outdoor sculptures and fountains Stahly made during his underestimated career, this one is a very rare example of a work inspired by the marine world.
Vivarium
Kurt Brägger
Martin Burckhardt
Martin Burckhardt
Public
1972
Basel, Switzerland
Photography Raphaëlle Saint-Pierre
Located in Asnières, France, this fountain made of agglomerated stones by Swiss artist François Stahly (1911—2006) was conceived as a way to balance the functionalist style of the surrounding housing estates. Over the years, the fountain has been seriously vandalized and the Place du Nouveau Marché where it is located is nowadays not as busy as it used to be. Although part of a large series of outdoor sculptures and fountains Stahly made during his underestimated career, this one is a very rare example of a work inspired by the marine world.
Maison Guilluy
Pascal Häusermann
Claude Costy
Claude Costy
Private
1972
Saint-Bonnet-De-Mure, France

Photography Joël Unal
Built in 1973, the Maison Guilluy in Saint-Bonnet-De-Mure, France, by Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) got a short life span of only one year. For unknown reasons, this self-built three floored house commissioned by Roger Guilluy was demolished as soon as its construction was completed in November 1974.
La Résidence Kalouguine
Vladimir Kalouguine
Public
1971
Angers, France
Photography Centre Pompidou
In 1971, French architect Vladimir Kalougine inaugurated in Angers, France his most acclaimed project. La Résidence Kalouguine consists of nine residential buildingss with a total of 219 appartments. Spread in a quite park, this project was the first in France to use projected concrete on a multi-storey building.
Casa Sperimentale
Guiseppe Perugini
Uga De Plaisant
Raynaldo Perugini
Uga De Plaisant
Raynaldo Perugini
Private
1971
Fregene, Italy
Photography Centre Pompidou
In 1971, French architect Vladimir Kalougine inaugurated in Angers, France his most acclaimed project. La Résidence Kalouguine consists of nine residential buildingss with a total of 219 appartments. Spread in a quite park, this project was the first in France to use projected concrete on a multi-storey building.
Maison IV
Jacques Couëlle
Private
1970
Castellaras-Le-Neuf, France



Photography Gilbert Luigi
A graduate from l’École du Bâtiment et des Arts Décoratifs de Grenoble, France, Jean-Louis Chanéac (193—1993) is known for his organic, mobile and accessible architecture. Passionate about Fordism and desiring to transfer its methods to building engineering, Chanéac first developed housing solutions using industrial, mass-produced and economical materials such as wood, metal or concrete as well as synthetic materials including resin, polyester, fibreglass, foam. Urbanism is also at the center of his concerns. In 1963, Chanéac draws the very first plan of Ville Cratère —Crater City whose habitable structures are mobile. In 1968, in conversation at l’Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles, the architect reads out his Manifeste de l’Architecture Insurrectionelle and deplores both the conservatism and poor-quality which caracterise the productions at the time. A compilation of technical drawings, sketches and writings, the document advocates for the installation of suction cup inspired houses which would be attached to pre-existing structures. On the aftermath of the first oil crisis in 1973, the majority of the synthetic materials he would use for the construction of his buildings become uneasy to acquire, dramatically slowing down his productions. As a consequence, Chanéac will build his own residential house in Aix-Les-Bains, south-east of France where he wanted to see his children experience his own concepts of living. Built in 1976, the house is situated on a very sloping land and metaphorically represents a bean pod.
Palais des Congrès
Christian Cacaut
André Mrowiec
André Mrowiec
Public
1970
Perros-Guirec, France
Photography Gilbert Luigi
A graduate from l’École du Bâtiment et des Arts Décoratifs de Grenoble, France, Jean-Louis Chanéac (193—1993) is known for his organic, mobile and accessible architecture. Passionate about Fordism and desiring to transfer its methods to building engineering, Chanéac first developed housing solutions using industrial, mass-produced and economical materials such as wood, metal or concrete as well as synthetic materials including resin, polyester, fibreglass, foam. Urbanism is also at the center of his concerns.
La Soucoupe
Roger Vissuzaine
René Rivière
René Rivière
Public
1970
Saint-Nazaire, France
Photography Gilbert Luigi
For one night only, transdisciplinary artist Julian Harold will take over Herðubreið's theatre for an exclusive, site-specific and experimental performance titled Auðumbla. An array of flower arrangements, video projections, live poetry and music connecting local and international artists, Auðumbla immerses the audience in an idiosyncratic and self-enclosed world. Auðumbla refers to the eponymous cow from Norse myth from whom we are the descendants. The action occurs under a suspended time frame, parallel to the one in which we live and where nature is held hostage. On the eve of savage green terrorism, original cow Auðumbla floods the rivers with her milk, nourishing the biosphere from her udders.
Sätra Vattentorn
Vattenbygnadsbyrån
Company
1969
Stockholm, Sweden
Photography Gilbert Luigi
For one night only, transdisciplinary artist Julian Harold will take over Herðubreið's theatre for an exclusive, site-specific and experimental performance titled Auðumbla. An array of flower arrangements, video projections, live poetry and music connecting local and international artists, Auðumbla immerses the audience in an idiosyncratic and self-enclosed world. Auðumbla refers to the eponymous cow from Norse myth from whom we are the descendants. The action occurs under a suspended time frame, parallel to the one in which we live and where nature is held hostage. On the eve of savage green terrorism, original cow Auðumbla floods the rivers with her milk, nourishing the biosphere from her udders.
La Ruine
Pascal Häusermann
Claude Costy
Claude Costy
Private
1969
Minzier, France



Photography Raphaëlle Saint-Pierre
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities.
Kantonschule
Heribert Stadlin
Otto Glaus
Otto Glaus
Public
1969
Wattwil, Switzerland
Photography Raphaëlle Saint-Pierre
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities.
Snarøya Church
Odd Østbye
Harald Hille
Harald Hille
Religious
1968
Bærum, Norway
Photography Raphaëlle Saint-Pierre
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities.
Sint-Ritakerk
Léon Stynen
Paul de Meyer
Paul de Meyer
Religious
1968
Harelbeke, Belgium
Photography Raphaëlle Saint-Pierre
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities.
Maison-Sculpture
Jacques Gillet
Félix Roulin
René Greisch
Félix Roulin
René Greisch
Private
1968
Angleur, Belgique

Photography Raphaëlle Saint-Pierre
The building of this extraordinary house took place between 1967 and 1968 in the forest estate of Angleur, in the region of Liège, Belgium. Architect Jacques Gillet (1912—1987) designed it for his brother Ivan in close collaboration with friend sculptor Félix Roulin and engineer René Greisch. The trio analysed both the aesthetic and the functional dimensions of a standard living space. La Maison-Sculpture is a quirky concrete house which offers its inhabitants various points of view and inserts gently within the surroundings.
Fontaine / Parc de Vincennes
François Stahly
Sculpture
1968
Vincennes, France

Photography Étienne Revault
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities.
Dragon Fort
Yōji Watanabe
Private
1968
Shizuoka, Japan
Photography Étienne Revault
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities.
Neptune I
François Stahly
Sculpture
1968
Versailles, France
Photography Étienne Revault
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities.





Photography Étienne Revault
In 1967, Jacques Couëlle (1902—1996) built a residential house for industrialist Jean-Jacques Goupil in a forest east in Chevreuse, west of Paris. The troglodyte-like house is situated on a standstone quarry and offers a breahtaking view. The architect opted for a rather sensual building plan with soft wall inclinations. The swimming pool is a central point organ to this house. From both floors, the house’s inhabitations can experience it through glass windows. This project was directed in parralel to his Castellaras-Le-Neuf commission.
Tower House
Takamitsu Azuma
Private
1967
Tokyo, Japan
Photography Étienne Revault
In 1966, exactly a year before establishing his own firm, Takamitsu Azuma (1933—2015) built the spectacular Tower House for his family in the busy neighbourhood of Shibuya, Tokyo. A six-story building built over a plot of land of about 20 square meters, the Tower House was immediatly regarded as a symbol of modern living. Offering up to 65 square meters of living space, it is designed as a continual vertical room. The staircase appears as the most significant structure in the house's interior. It connects the individual rooms, which are piled one on top of the other without any doors separating them. Azuma and his partner lived in it for over fifty years.
La Réunion
François Stahly
Sculpture
1966
Konztanz, Germany

Photography Étienne Revault
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels.
La Petite Bibliothèque Ronde
Gérard Thurnauer
Jean Renaudie
Jean-Louis Véret
Pierre Riboulet
Jean Renaudie
Jean-Louis Véret
Pierre Riboulet
Public
1965
Clamart, France
Photography Étienne Revault
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities.
St. Pius X
Joachim Schürmann
Religious
1965
Neuss, Germany
Photography Étienne Revault
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities.
Wakulima Market
Unknown
Public
1965
Nairobi, Kenya
Photography Étienne Revault
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities.
Hraiche Pool
Unknown
Public
1965
Tripoli, Libya
Photography Étienne Revault
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962.
Toku’Un-Ji Ossuary
Kiyonori Kikutake
Institution
1965
Kurume, Japan
Photography Étienne Revault
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities.
Gas Station
Unknown
Public
1965
Ogre, Latvia
Photography Étienne Revault
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities.
Paul Gerhardt Kirche
Fehling + Gogel
Religious
1964
Berlin, Germany
Photography Étienne Revault
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities.
Atelier Neuenschwander
Eduard Neuenschwander
Private
1964
Gockhausen, Switzerland
Photography Étienne Revault
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities.
Studio Van Dorp
Ernst Van Drop
Company
1964
Bonn, Germany
Photography Étienne Revault
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities.
Cathédrale du Sacré Cœur
Paul Herbé
Jean Le Couteur
Jean Le Couteur
Religious
1963
Algiers, Algeria
Photography Étienne Revault
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities.
Summer House
Antonin Raymond
Private
1963
Karuizawa, Japan
Photography Étienne Revault
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities.
Nichinan Culture House
Kenzo Tange
Public
1963
Nichinan, Japan
Photography Étienne Revault
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities.
Prefectural Gymnasium
Junzo Sakakura
Public
1963
Saga, Japan
Photography Étienne Revault
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities.
Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation
Georges-Henri Pingusson
Insitution
1962
Paris, France
Photography Étienne Revault
In 1953, le Réseau du Souvenir expressed publically its desire to see a mausoleum to the to the 200,000 people who were deported from Vichy to the Nazi concentration camps during World War II. The group was led by Jean Cassou, conservator-in-chief at Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris. The mayor of Paris rapidly accepted the inniative and offered a land situated behind the Cathédrale de Notre-Dame on Ile de la Cité. From the beginning, Cassou shared his thoughts on a rather humble building with minimal impact on the surrounding view. Rejecting the idea of a tall and elevated structure, Cassou opted for an hypogeum-inspired building referring to the Antic funerary tradition. At this time, Georges-Henri Pingusson (1894—1978) was alredy acclaimed for his avant-gardiste creations in the country. His investment in rebuilding plans in France after WWII seduced the jury.
Le Réseau du Souvenir came to the conclusion that no explicit or figurative representations were to be seen within the mausoleulm. Its main function was to be fully devoted to memory and contemplation. The initiatory journeyGeorges-Henri Pingusson’s architecture established was meant to evoke metaphorically the suffering of the victims. Visitors are therefore invited on a spiritual, sensorial and metaphysical experience through phenomenal tensions. As a consequence, the visitors feel effectively detached from the outside world as they walk down the building. The stiffness of the stairs, the roughness of the walls and the unvenness of the ground favor a sensation of uneasiness. Through a poignant and primitive design, Pingusson invented a certain aesthetic to the mausoleum which eventually got critized. The architect never denied his sculptural approach to this particularly evocative project.
Le Réseau du Souvenir came to the conclusion that no explicit or figurative representations were to be seen within the mausoleulm. Its main function was to be fully devoted to memory and contemplation. The initiatory journeyGeorges-Henri Pingusson’s architecture established was meant to evoke metaphorically the suffering of the victims. Visitors are therefore invited on a spiritual, sensorial and metaphysical experience through phenomenal tensions. As a consequence, the visitors feel effectively detached from the outside world as they walk down the building. The stiffness of the stairs, the roughness of the walls and the unvenness of the ground favor a sensation of uneasiness. Through a poignant and primitive design, Pingusson invented a certain aesthetic to the mausoleum which eventually got critized. The architect never denied his sculptural approach to this particularly evocative project.
Casa Saldarini
Vittorio Giorgini
Private
1962
Baratti, Italy

Photography B.A.Co.
Casa Saldarini by Vttorio Giorgoni (1926—2010) is a great example of the concepts he featured in his 1965 manifesto Spatiology. Through its elevated and serpentine volume, the Casa Saldarini embodies the architect’s main concern on the impact of a structure on the ground. Inspired by the topology of thin shell structures, the present achievement is symbolically situated at the heart of a forest estate.
Divine Word Seminary Chapel
Antonin Raymond
Religious
1962
Nanzan, Japan
Photography B.A.Co.
For one night only, transdisciplinary artist Julian Harold will take over Herðubreið's theatre for an exclusive, site-specific and experimental performance titled Auðumbla. An array of flower arrangements, video projections, live poetry and music connecting local and international artists, Auðumbla immerses the audience in an idiosyncratic and self-enclosed world. Auðumbla refers to the eponymous cow from Norse myth from whom we are the descendants. The action occurs under a suspended time frame, parallel to the one in which we live and where nature is held hostage. On the eve of savage green terrorism, original cow Auðumbla floods the rivers with her milk, nourishing the biosphere from her udders. Drawing a line between past and present, the performance investigates our rampant race toward modernity. The show presents a time when the human footprint on this planet will have been so disastrous that the biosphere now solely exists digitally.
Municipal Gymnasium
Junzo Sakakura
Public
1961
Saijo, Japan
Photography B.A.Co.
For one night only, transdisciplinary artist Julian Harold will take over Herðubreið's theatre for an exclusive, site-specific and experimental performance titled Auðumbla. An array of flower arrangements, video projections, live poetry and music connecting local and international artists, Auðumbla immerses the audience in an idiosyncratic and self-enclosed world.
Palata Srbije
Mihailo Janković
Institution
1961
Belgrade, Serbia




Photography Romain Laprade
A testament to the country’s mid-century modern design credentials, the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade is among the most refinded project innitiated by Serbian architect Mihailo Janković (1911—1976). An elegant network of staircases leads to the lofty main hall of this tremendous governmental building. Its complex construction taking place between 1947 and 1961 reflects the complexities of the region. Croatian architect Vladimir Potocnjak was first commissioned to design it until the next year when Yugoslavia’s departure from Stalin’s Eastern Bloc put a spanner in the works leaving the building abandonned for over almost a decade. In 1956, Mihailo Janković took over the project with the support of Josip Broz Tito, the country’s new ambitious leader. With its marvellous mid-century interiors and an important collection of 2,000 works of art from the former Yugoslavia, the Palace of Serbia is an unmatched cultural asset for the region. This modernist masterpice got valued over the last two decades thanks to local and international conservators.
Gunma Music Center
Antonin Raymond
Public
1961
Takasaki, Japan
Photography Romain Laprade
A testament to the country’s mid-century modern design credentials, the Palace of Serbia is among architect Mihailo Janković’s most refined projects. An elegant network of staircases leads to the lofty main hall of this tremendous governmental building. Its complex construction taking place between 1947 and 1961 reflects the complexities of the region. Croatian architect Vladimir Potocnjak was first commissioned to design it until the next year when Yugoslavia’s departure from Stalin’s Eastern Bloc put a spanner in the works leaving the building abandonned for over almost a decade. In 1956, Serbian architect Mihailo Janković took over the project with the support of Josip Broz Tito, the country’s new ambitious leader.
Fontaine
François Stahly
Sculpture
1959
Asnières, France

Photography Étienne Revault
Located in Asnières, France, this fountain made of agglomerated stones by Swiss artist François Stahly (1911—2006) was conceived as a way to balance the functionalist style of the surrounding housing estates. Over the years, the fountain has been seriously vandalized and the Place du Nouveau Marché where it is located is nowadays not as busy as it used to be. Although part of a large series of outdoor sculptures and fountains Stahly made during his underestimated career, this one is a very rare example of a work inspired by the marine world.
Église Notre-Dame
Guillaume Gillet
Marc Hébrard
Bernard Lafaille
René Sarger
Ou Tseng
René Sarger
Ou Tseng
Religious
1958
Royan, France
Photography Étienne Revault
Throughout his impressive career, Guillaume Gillet (1912—1987) designed among France’s most singular churches. L’Église Notre-Dame de Royan, on the west coast of France, opened to public in 1958. Built entirely in rough concrete, its volumes are inspired by France’s most monumental gothic cathedrals and offer a seating a capacity of 2,000. Its colossal glasses by Henri Martin-Granel elevate the structure up its 60 meters high bell tower. Its custom-made tin organ designed by Robert Boisseau was inaugurated in 1964 and was fully equipped by 1984.
The concrete used for the building weakened over the nineteen-eighties, possibly due to the windy climate of the region. Between 1994 and 1996, both the bell tower and the belfry got restored. In 2013, an extensive restoration plan was innitiated to save this fragile structure.
The concrete used for the building weakened over the nineteen-eighties, possibly due to the windy climate of the region. Between 1994 and 1996, both the bell tower and the belfry got restored. In 2013, an extensive restoration plan was innitiated to save this fragile structure.
Mural / University of Venezuela
Victor Vasarely
Public
1958
Caracas, Venezuela
Photography Étienne Revault
Located in Asnières, France, this fountain made of agglomerated stones by Swiss artist François Stahly (1911—2006) was conceived as a way to balance the functionalist style of the surrounding housing estates. Over the years, the fountain has been seriously vandalized and the Place du Nouveau Marché where it is located is nowadays not as busy as it used to be. Although part of a large series of outdoor sculptures and fountains Stahly made during his underestimated career, this one is a very rare example of a work inspired by the marine world.
Rotaprint Administration Building
Klaus Kirsten
Comany
1958
Berlin, Germany
Photography Étienne Revault
Sky House
Kiyonori Kikutake
Private
1958
Tokyo, Japan
Photography Étienne Revault
The Sky House by Japanese architect Kiyonori Kikutake (1928—2011) remains an exemplary project that defines the Metabolist agenda but, more significantly, underscores the notion that a single-family dwelling can be ideologically recursive and strategic. The house consists of a single 10 X 10 meters concrete slab which is raised up on 4.5 meters high piers located on the central axe of each side in order to free the corners. The piers also support the concrete roof. Over the last decades, several changes were made to the original structure, some improved the building following its own intrinsical logic, some irrimediably altered the house’s nature.
Goetheanum
Rudolf Steiner
Company
1928
Dornach, Switzerland
Photography Étienne Revault
Located in Asnières, France, this fountain made of agglomerated stones by Swiss artist François Stahly (1911—2006) was conceived as a way to balance the functionalist style of the surrounding housing estates. Over the years, the fountain has been seriously vandalized and the Place du Nouveau Marché where it is located is nowadays not as busy as it used to be. Although part of a large series of outdoor sculptures and fountains Stahly made during his underestimated career, this one is a very rare example of a work inspired by the marine world.
Tsogchin Temple
Unknown
Religious
1749
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Photography Étienne Revault
Located in Asnières, France, this fountain made of agglomerated stones by Swiss artist François Stahly (1911—2006) was conceived as a way to balance the functionalist style of the surrounding housing estates. Over the years, the fountain has been seriously vandalized and the Place du Nouveau Marché where it is located is nowadays not as busy as it used to be. Although part of a large series of outdoor sculptures and fountains Stahly made during his underestimated career, this one is a very rare example of a work inspired by the marine world.
Uçhisar
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Cappadocia, Turkey
Photography Étienne Revault
Located in Asnières, France, this fountain made of agglomerated stones by Swiss artist François Stahly (1911—2006) was conceived as a way to balance the functionalist style of the surrounding housing estates. Over the years, the fountain has been seriously vandalized and the Place du Nouveau Marché where it is located is nowadays not as busy as it used to be. Although part of a large series of outdoor sculptures and fountains Stahly made during his underestimated career, this one is a very rare example of a work inspired by the marine world.
Biographies
Takamitsu Azuma (1933—2015) graduated in 1957 from the School of Architecture at the University of Osaka, Japan. For seven years, he worked alongside Sakakura Junzo, one of Japan’s most acclaimed architects. In 1966, exactly a year before establishing his own firm, Azuma built the spectacular Tower House for his family. A six-story building built over a plot of land of about 20 square meters, the Tower House was immediatly regarded as a symbol of modern living and certainy his best creation.
Gottfried Böhm (1920—) is the son of Dominikus Böhm, a German architect better known for his cutting-edge churches in Cologne, the Ruhr area, Swabia and Hesse. After graduating from Technical University of Munich in 1946, Böhm eventually studied sculpture, a discipline which dramatically influenced his design process. Between 1947 and 1955, he worked for his father before taking over his firm. He was also an active member of the Society for the Reconstruction of Cologne led by Rudolf Schwarz. During his years spent in NYC, Böhm met fellows German architects Walter Gropius and Mies Van Der Rohe whom he admired. Some describe his style as a blend of expressionist and post-Bauhaus styles. His concern for urban planning is evident in many of his projects, harping back on his emphasis on connections.
Christian Cacaut (1932—1982) is among these architects who distinctly modernised France in the sixties. L’Église Saint-Pierre in Grand Quevilly is certainly his best achievement aside the King Faisal University in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia’s first public university.
Jean-Louis Chanéac (1931—1993) graduated from l’École du Bâtiment et des Arts Décoratifs de Grenoble, France. He is mostly known for his organic, mobile and accessible architecture. Passionate about Fordism and desiring to transfer its methods to building engineering, Chanéac first developed housing solutions using industrial, mass-produced and economical materials such as wood, metal or concrete as well as synthetic materials including resin, polyester, fibreglass, foam. Urbanism is also at the center of his concerns. In 1963, Chanéac draws the very first plan of Ville Cratère —Crater City whose habitable structures are mobile. In 1968, in conversation at l’Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles, the architect reads out his Manifeste de l’Architecture Insurrectionelle and deplores both the conservatism and poor-quality which caracterise the productions at the time. A compilation of technical drawings, sketches and writings, the document advocates for the installation of suction cup inspired houses which would be attached to pre-existing structures.
Jacques Couëlle (1902—1996) led le Centre de Recherche de Structures Naturelles between 1945 and 1963. As its major research project, Couëlle was transferring biological organisms to house building cases. A connoisseur of archeology, he mostly got commissionned by wealthy clients throughout his career. In 1926, he built a castle-like residential house for an American art collector in Mouans-Sartoux, France. The project will extend to a modern hotel complex in 1959 at the behest of land developer Pierre Beckhardt. In 1964, Castellaras-Le-Vieux opens to public with its 86 luxury holiday cottages. In 1962, Couëlle gets offered the chance to build another fifty houses in Castellaras-Le-Neuf. By 1965, five remarkable prototypes will be completed. In conversation with friend engineer Robert Le Ricolais, Jacques Couëlle evoked madrepores, dens and corals as his main inspirations. He compares his housing creations to living organisms with a nervous system, a stomach, intestines and a heart. In 1970, with the building of his Monte Mano house in Sardinia, the architet went further into the organic aesthetic. Later on, he eventually added glazed ceramics and antic copper plates to the original concrete base.
Claude Costy (1931—) and Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities. In 1966, magazine Elle published an article celebrating the bubble houses the couple had started building. Pascal Häusermann and Claude Costy received up to 2,000 requests throughout the ten years following the magazine’s publication. The couple always praised for the economic side of the building of bubble houses. According to them, only one material is required, its footprint on the ground is rather minimal and they offer large aerial volumes. Nonetheless, both the design and the installaton of the windows for such structures represent a higher cost than for standar buildings. Between 1963 and 1972, Häusermann and Costy shared equal parts when working on their various projects ranging from residential houses to municipal buildings.
Charles Delfante (1926—2012) played an important role at the French Ministry of Reconstruction in the nineteen-fifties. In 1954, Delfante led the first urban planning for the small commune of Firminy, France. In 1961, he is appointed to lead the PADOG, an extensive urbanisation plan for the region of Lyon. He rapidly took over the major reconstruction plans for the city center as well, in particular for the business district of La Part Dieu. A connoisseur of the city’s identity and a real supporter to its modernisation, Delfante inaugurated in 1975 the Maurice Ravel Auditorium which he designed with friend architect Henri Pottier.
Marius Depont (1927—2017) devoted his career to both urbanism and sculpture. Son of a couple of artisans, Marius Depont worked actively in the building and modernisation of the suburbs of Paris, the city of Châteauroux and in the Loire and Centre regions. With friends architects and fellow communists Serge Lana and Claude Le Goas, Depont founded ATURBA, an urban planning bureau. The trio mostly operated in working-class suburbs of Paris such as Malakoff, Bagnolet, Saint-Denis and Montreuil. In Bobigny, north east of Paris, Depont got commissioned to design its town hall as well as the Église Saint-André.
Guillaume Gillet (1912—1987) is often described as the architect of the Trente Glorieuses in France. Throughout his impressive career, Gillet got consecutively appointed as architecture counsellor to the cities of Paris, Cannes, Monte-Carlo, Antibes. A large majority of his creations include modern style churches which he built in a particularly economically dynamic time. A certain faith in modernity characterises this period as well, which permitted a generation of architects including Gillet to design spectacularly modern churches. Gillet is buried in l’Église Notre-Dame de Royan which he always considered his greatest achievement.
Vittorio Giorgini (1926—2010) always placed nature and sculpture at the centre of his impetuous and versatile designs. Fascinated both by Modernists such as Le Corbusier and Leonardo Savioli as well as utopian housing solutions, Giorgini progressively developped a sculptural signature within the field of architecture. Giorgini’s design process was based on the direct observation of natural structures. His investigations began with the study of such curved systems as shells and membranes, curiosity about tensile structures and analysis of octahedral and dodecahedral geometrical shapes. Most of his essential concepts got gathered in his 1965 celebrated manifesto Spatiology. This research matches with Giorgini’s obsession for the minimal impact of a building on the ground.
Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities. In 1966, magazine Elle published an article celebrating the bubble houses the couple had started building. Pascal Häusermann and Claude Costy received up to 2,000 requests throughout the ten years following the magazine’s publication. The couple always praised for the economic side of the building of bubble houses. According to them, only one material is required, its footprint on the ground is rather minimal and they offer large aerial volumes. Nonetheless, both the design and the installaton of the windows for such structures represent a higher cost than for standar buildings. Between 1963 and 1972, Häusermann and Costy shared equal parts when working on their various projects ranging from residential houses to municipal buildings.
VIadimir Kalouguine (1931—)
Ferdinand Keilmann (1907—1979) graduated from Höhere Technische Lehranstalt in Offenbach Am Main, Germany in 1927. After a three-year traineeship at the Aschaffenburg Building Authority, he joined the Reich Air Force construction department in April 1936. Keilmann eventually worked in the German Academy for Housing during WWII. On the eve of the denazification process, Keilmann was going through his most creative phase and his design for the Municipal Utility Tower he built in 1952 for the city of Bochum, western Germany, is often cited as example. Between 1950 and 1972, Keilmann made an important contribution to the cityscape as an architect in the building department of the city of Bochum.
Kiyonori Kikutake (1928—2011), often regarded as a visionary and mastermind at the leading edge of the Metabolism groupt, has been the recipient of numerous awards both in his native Japan and internationally. Conceived at the 1960 World Design Conference in Tokyo, metabolism was a Japanese-originating response to post world-war issues in urbanism in a country that now found itself with the necessity to re-build homes and cities. One of Kikutake’s great gifts as an architect was the ability to synthesize these diverse influences and to publish intellectually charged essays elaborating upon his built works. Among his most acclaimed designs, the Edo-Tokyo Museum, his Sky House and the Marine City remain unbelievably ingenious. His famous Marine City was conceived as a self-sustainable, earthquake-proof metropolis floating in the ocean. Breaking all traditional conventions and addressing issues important even today, the project is frequently cited as an example of the Metabolism movement.Pascal Häusermann (1936—2011) and Claude Costy (1931—) met in 1958 at l’École d’Architecture de Genève, Switzerland both graduating in 1962. After meeting architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri when interning in Carmel, U.S.A., Claude Costy first got familiar with guniting method, mostly used to build swimming pools and tunnels. At the same time at the London Polytechnic, Häusermann was investigating on the construction of shell-like structures and rapidly came to the conclusion concrete as a material was offering a rather broad range of technical possibilities. In 1966, magazine Elle published an article celebrating the bubble houses the couple had started building. Pascal Häusermann and Claude Costy received up to 2,000 requests throughout the ten years following the magazine’s publication. The couple always praised for the economic side of the building of bubble houses. According to them, only one material is required, its footprint on the ground is rather minimal and they offer large aerial volumes. Nonetheless, both the design and the installaton of the windows for such structures represent a higher cost than for standar buildings. Between 1963 and 1972, Häusermann and Costy shared equal parts when working on their various projects ranging from residential houses to municipal buildings.
VIadimir Kalouguine (1931—)
Ferdinand Keilmann (1907—1979) graduated from Höhere Technische Lehranstalt in Offenbach Am Main, Germany in 1927. After a three-year traineeship at the Aschaffenburg Building Authority, he joined the Reich Air Force construction department in April 1936. Keilmann eventually worked in the German Academy for Housing during WWII. On the eve of the denazification process, Keilmann was going through his most creative phase and his design for the Municipal Utility Tower he built in 1952 for the city of Bochum, western Germany, is often cited as example. Between 1950 and 1972, Keilmann made an important contribution to the cityscape as an architect in the building department of the city of Bochum.
Klaus Kirsten (1929—1969) is a graduate from Berlin’s Technischen Universität. Between 1957 and 1999, Kirsten and friend architect Heinz Nather headed together the Kirsten & Nather architecture office. Over the nineteen-fifties and nineteen-sixties, the office was particularly well reputed in the German capital. Each of their buildings, regardless of whether it is a factory building or a residential building, is characterized by an idiosyncratic as well as a confident handling of shapes and materials. Inspired by the avant-garde architecture in Italy and in the U.S. at the same period, the office built unconventional open structures in free forms.
Mihailo Janković (1911—1976))is among Serbia’s most celebrated architects and is better known for the flamboyant Palace of Serbia. He designed a few of the most improtant structures in Serbia whist a part of Yugoslavia including the Partizan Stadium and the Ušće Towers.
Edmond Lay (1930—2019) is a graduate from École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris. Edmond Lay recalls strong memories of his first travels in North Africa where he got familiar with the peculiar use of natural light in traditional houses. Later on, he eventually travelled to the U.S. where he ended up teaching architecture at l’Université Notre-Dame-du-Lac in Southbend, Indiana in the first place and Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. During this time, Lay met Frank Lloyd Wright just before his death. The two had just started considering a collaborative project together. Edmond Lay will rapidly become friend with Wright’s disciple Paolo Soleri whom with he will work from 1961. With Soleri, he got familiar with concepts such as sustainbility through utopian housing solutions. After refusing to become a tutor at prestigious Harvard University, Edmond Lay flew back to his native region in the south west of France, in order to found his own office. Multiple commissions reached the architect once back in Piétat, both public and private.
Fritz Gerhard Mayr (1931—) is a graduate from the Akademie der bildenden Künste in Vienna, Austria. Before founding his own bureau, Mayr worked in the architectural offices of Roland Rainer and Wilhelm Hubatsch. Along with various designs for schools, his plans for the Wotruba Church in Vienna is surely is most acclaimed work. Designed in collaboration with sculptor Fritz Wotruba, this Roman Church is composed of massive raw concrete blocks.
Giuseppe Perugini (1914—?) graduated from Sapienza Università in Rome, Italy in 1941. Throughout his impetuous career, Giuseppe Perugini constantly expressed an obsession with new technologies and radical living solutions. As for his first major commission, Perugini designed the Mausoleo Delle Fosse Ardeatine in Rome, a mosoleum to the 1944 Ardeatine masscre by the Nazi troops. In 1971, Perugini, his wife Uga de Plaisant and their son Raynaldo, completed the construction of their Casa Sperimentale, one of the most radical yet enighmatic residential house ever imagined.
Henri Pottier (1912—2000) graduated from École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris in 1937. During the reconstruction of France, Pottier actively helped rebuild the cities of Vernon and Évreux, both located in Normandy. Betwen 1951 and 1955, Pottier was teaching architecture at École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris. In 1959, he joined forces with urbanist Raymond Lopez in the development of the Front de Seine area in Paris. This major project offered Pottier an unprecedented visibility in France. As an architect, Pottier built a varied range of structures from stadiums, hospitals, concert halls to universities.
Georges-Henri Pingusson (1894—1978) graduated from École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris in 1925. Throughout his unique and fruitful career, Pingusson worked along some of the most iconic figures in architecture including Jean Prouvé, Robert Mallet-Stevens or Le Corbusier. In 1932, Pingusson inaugurated his masterpiece of modernism Hôtel Latitude 43 in Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera. In the nineteen-twenties, Pingusson was the author of a long list of superb villas in the region. After WWII and until his death, Pingusson was an active figure in the field of architecture and politics in France. On April 12th 1962, the architect unveils Paris’ Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation in the presence of French president Général de Gaulle.
Antonin Raymond (1888—1976)
Junzo Sakakura (1901—1976)Antonin Raymond (1888—1976)
François Stahly (1911—2006)
Rudolf Steiner (1861—1925)
Victor Vasarely (1906—1997)
Roger Vissuzaine (1909—1993)
Pierre Vivien (1909—1999)
Fritz Wotruba (1907—1975)
Roger Vissuzaine (1909—1993)
Pierre Vivien (1909—1999)
Fritz Wotruba (1907—1975)