[EN] - Materials : Boris Bouchet (2015)

Left : Mixed use building in Marsac // Top Right : Arlanc // Bottom Right : Ecohameau

 As I continue my study on the emergence of a possible Metamodern architecture, I attended a conference by Boris Bouchet, not a starchitect, from the sleepy villages of Auvergne, far away from the glitsy architecture cities like Lyon, Paris, Strasbourg and Bordeaux may propose.. Boris Bouchet was certainly a lovely discovery, and one that was very optimistic and enthused me.

I had previously looked at the “Whisperers” in Britain, those that opposed High-Tech architecture, those whisperers who were Fretton, Caruso&St-John and 6A who I spoke of in an article devoted to the book “Never Modern”. I wondered if in France there was some kind of similar position? One that incorporated modesty, but also great respect to the context and a search of authenticity in the materials they used.

Boris Bouchet, won the Europan contest, and studied in Lyon and Clermont-Ferrand, he was awarded a “young architect” prize this year, the AJAP, which honors the young hopes of french architecture, a world away from the likes of Perrault, Nouvel, Willmote we find a emerging french scene with different values and a very positive “yes we can” attitude as Boris showed in the conference.

His projects are simple, economic smooth and modest. He explained us that in Auvergne, money doesn't flow and we had to do a lot with little, close enough to words spoken by Tom Dyckhoff in 2009 when he was talking about the Nottingham Contemporary, saying « As the recession forces an end to the age of architecture built on excess, we should celebrate the austerity of Nottingham Contemporary » and in the same way, he does a lot with little.

Bouchet's Austerity and « New Seriousness » is parraleled by a strong logic of the materials he uses, the concrete cast wall we know, is a contemporary version of the Pisé wall, a technic he uses in one of his projects. 

A project in Arlanc, France (Top Right) The Massif Central region is famous for it's volcanoes and it's forest, the wood is sourced and cut locally, before being used in the project, normally in France this project would not use there techniques but this agency took a stand and justified the use of wood, not only architecturally, but also economically. The base of the building is in concrete making the base solid visually.

In a housing project called "Ecohameau" (Bottom Right) Bouchet recycled stones from a near existing ruin, before recycling them in a home. In his works, the materials are traditional, very rustic, but elegant, authentic and timeless..