Originality and in-depth reflection on the future of hotels and cities… The winning projects of the Archi Jeunes competition, organized by the architecture agency Valode & & Pistre, are part of the air temperature. The second edition of this prize, intended for architecture school students and young graduates, rewarded five projects on the theme of the urban hotel of tomorrow and its role in the city. However, the prize was able to give young architects a voice on themes related to architectural and societal issues. The winners are awarded a scholarship. The first two winning teams even have the opportunity to join the agency on a fixed-term contract.
The theme of this edition was chosen by Valode & & Pistre by relationship to the many challenges that the hotel industry must face. The sector is faced with the environmental crisis, recruitment difficulties and the challenge of integration into the urban environment. Thus, the actors who compose it question themselves on the construction, the development and the exploitation of hotel buildings and on the role that these buildings play in the cities in which they are located.
A specialized jury
To better understand these questions, the competition jury was made up of architects, Marylou Machecourt (winner of the first Archi Jeunes), and selected personalities for their interest and sensitivity to the hotel industry, including Serge Trigano, co-founder of Mama Shelter and Mama Works, and Pierre Hermé, pastry chef and chocolate maker.
” The jury was impressed by the quality of the work of the winners. The theme of this second edition aroused the creativity and interest of the contestants. We have received a wide variety of proposals “, Denis Valode, co-founder of the Valode & & Pistre agency, told the press following the award ceremony on April 20, 2023 in Paris. Put the co-creator of this award, the hotel “ has a new role to play in the city, integrating new functions“, such as the coworking. The candidates were all able to imagine projects that meet the challenges of urban development. “ The proposals are aimed at different categories of populations, integrate activities that bring a new dimension to the traditional hotel industry. Also, a majority of projects offer improvements to existing buildings, which proves that rehabilitation can be creative. It is not experienced as a constraint, but as a virtuous re-use.”
Denis Valode affirms it . The agency intends to organize this competition every two years, “ which is very popular with students. This idea of a prize puts us in the moment of the pandemic of Covid-19
“, says Denis Valode.
“Totem” by Marine Scymczack
Marine Scymczack proposes to rehabilitate “ an old silo in Reims in order to find its totem character, a typology found throughout the territory , often in urban districts in anomaly“, explains the former student at Ensa Strasbourg and Paris-Val de Seine. The building would function on different scales, and would contribute to daily life and the animation of the public space by integrating a theater and a place of meetings and culture.
The website would become a new place of reference for the city. “ I wanted to get away from the idea that the hotel was linked to the world of luxury. On the contrary, it is a marker of the territory. Previously, in the cities and towns of France, we found there are hotels everywhere, sometimes near stations, even if they have negative connotations today. I wanted to rediscover the idea of accessibility “, she confides to Batiactu. The skeleton of the silos refers to a concrete cathedral and allows one to imagine, according to the winner, a wide range of programs. “ Silos are often located in abandoned urban areas. By injecting this hotel program into this type of building, I wanted to revitalize these currently neglected territories. ”
Marine Scymczack wanted to preserve the existing to the optimum, although new recycled concrete floors and glass pavers would be added. “ Working on the rehabilitation of an existing abandoned, unoccupied building, rather than building others, is close to my heart “, ensure the winner . A greening work on the roof has been thought out. The space would house a greenhouse, which would itself be connected to the hotel’s bar and dining establishment. A system for recovering rainwater and composting waste from the dining establishment would be rented. Put Denis Valode, “ Marine Scymczack’s project is a surprise. The rehabilitation of this former silo is a magical improvement. The building becomes an emblematic place, characterized by an original architecture.”
Discover the projects of the other winners in the following pages …
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