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Dixit - 01 Hyperconfort

Dixit - 01 Hyperconfort

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Premier numéro de la revue critique d'architecture publiée par Cosa Mentale, dans lequel les voix de l'agence d'architecture Bruther et de Laurent Stalder, professeur en Histoire de l'architecture à L'ETH, se confrontent autour du thème de l'« hyperconfort ».

Maintenir le corps dans sa zone de confort, tel est le mot d'ordre secret de notre environnement quotidien. Dès qu'une porte est franchie, dès qu'un intérieur est parcouru, l'environnement se doit d'être dompté, climatisé, aseptisé. Tout est fait pour que nous ne nous sentions même plus respirer, même plus transpirer, les efforts physiques sont estompés, notre sécurité assurée. Notre corps s'est coupé des variations climatiques, acoustiques, lumineuses, sécuritaires quand bien même celles-ci sont finalement restreintes sous nos latitudes. Cette normalisation invisible n'est pas qu'une question infra-spatiale. Du confort au conformisme, voire à la conformation, il n'y a qu'un pas. Ce processus modifie déjà insidieusement certains de nos comportements. Qui ne s'est pas surpris en entrant dans un centre commercial à avoir envie d'un pull, même en plein mois d'août ? Les réactions sensorielles font retour à l'endroit même où on cherche à les insensibiliser.

Doit-on sortir de sa zone de confort ? La partager ? L'élargir peut-être ? Et de quoi ce confort nous prive-t-il ? D'espace, de ressources, de nous-mêmes ? Hyperconfort nous confronte avec humour et gravité aux paradoxes de la régulation. En mettant en scène de façon dramatique et euphorique à la fois les contrastes climatiques, les seuils, les réactions thermiques en chaîne (chaud, froid, humide, sec) mais également la débauche énergétique et l'inflation technique qui se cachent derrière nos zones de confort, Hyperconfort rappelle le prix à payer pour le fractionnement des espaces contemporains.

Stéphanie Bru et Alexandre Theriot ont fondé le bureau Bruther en 2007 à Paris. Les projets de Bruther ramènent le design à l'essentiel, en explorant les domaines de l'architecture, de l'urbanisme, du paysage, de la recherche et de l'enseignement. Ils appliquent un design de résistance, libre de toute marque de maniérisme, de style, de mode ou d'excès. Leurs projets suggèrent un équilibre délicat entre stratégie et forme, rigueur et liberté, particulier et générique, immédiateté et évolutivité. Alliant programme et futur, leurs projets sont synonymes d'infrastructures ouvertes, capables de répondre à une multitude de potentialités futures et à une vaste malléabilité des usages. Bruther s'inscrit dans une « nouvelle vague » de pratiques, qui contribuent à un renouvellement radical de la culture architecturale française. Lauréat de nombreux prix et concours, le studio Bruther a fait l'objet d'une monographie intitulée Introduction en 2014, et de nombreuses autres publications internationales et conférences internationales.

Laurent Stalder est architecte et professeur d'histoire et de théorie à l'ETH de Zurich depuis 2006. L'axe principal de ses recherches et publications est l'histoire et la théorie de l'architecture du XIXe au XXIe siècle, période où elle croise l'histoire de la technologie. Il est l'auteur de nombreuses publications (Hermann Muthesius. Das Landhaus als kulturgeschichtlicher Entwurf, 2008, Valerio Olgiati, 2008, Der Schwellenatlas, 2009, God & Co. François Dallegret : Au-delà de la bulle, 2011, Atelier Bow Bow. A Primer, 2013, Fritz Haller : Architekt und Forscher, 2015, Architecture/Machine, 2017, Architectural Ethnography, 2018). Ses essais ont été publiés entre autres dans AA Files, Arch +, Greyroom, Journal of Architecture, Werk Bauen & Wohnen et Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte.

À l'image d'une discipline qui se renouvelle sur elle-même, les éditions Cosa Mentale reprennent le flambeau de la revue critique – qui fût leur toute première forme. Elles souhaitent ainsi enrichir encore le débat autour de l'architecture en apportant une parole qui se confronte à l'actualité. L'architecture est un point à la convergence des questionnements, une discipline nourrie d'approches transversales. A ce titre, comme une signature, Cosa Mentale s'attache à conserver un point de vue critique, riche d'un regard social et politique dont la discipline architecturale relève, afin de mettre au jour sa complexité et ses aspirations.

Pour chaque numéro, deux contributeurs sont invités à partager leur réflexion autour d'un thème inédit.

Direction de publication : Simon Campedel.
Comité éditorial : Simon Campedel, Frédéric Einaudi, Mathias Gervais de Lafond, Baptiste Manet, Claudia Mion, Giacomo Ortalli, Simon Vergès.
Conception graphique : Spassky Fischer

Paru en novembre 2020

Édition bilingue (français / anglais)
23 x 30 cm (broché)
64 pages (ill. n&b)
ISBN : 978-2-491039-05-9


First issue of the critical magazine published by Cosa Mentale, in which the words of the architecture practice Bruther and of Laurent Stalder, professor of architecture history at ETH, confront each other around the theme of “hypercomfort.”

Keeping the body in its comfort zone is the secret watchword of our daily environment. As soon as a door is crossed, as soon as an interior is roamed, the environment must be controlled, air conditioned, sanitized. Everything is done to make us feelling like we even breath anymore, even sweat anymore, physical efforts are reduced, our security is guaranteed. Our body has cut off itself from climatic, acoustic, light and security variations, even if these are ultimately restricted in our latitudes. This invisible normalization is not merely an infra-spatial issue. From comfort to conformism, even conformation, there is only one step. This process is already insidiously changing some of our behaviors. Who hasn't surprised themselves to want a sweater when entering a shopping center, even in the middle of August? Sensory reactions return to the very place where we try to numb them.
How will we live together? Do we have to get out of our comfort zone? Should we share it? Maybe widen it? And what does this comfort deny us? Space, resources, ourselves? Hypercomfort, facing us with humour and seriousness to the paradoxes of regulation. By staging in a dramatic and euphoric way the climatic contrasts, the thresholds, the thermal chain reactions (hot, cold, wet, dry) but also the energy debauchery and technical inflation that hide behind our comfort zones, Hypercomfort reminds us of the price we pay for the fragmentation of contemporary spaces.

Stéphanie Bru and Alexandre Theriot founded the Bruther office in 2007 in Paris. Bruther's projects bring design back to basics, exploring the fields of architecture, town planning, landscape, research and education. They apply a design of resistance, free from any mark of mannerism, style, fashion or excess. Their projects suggest a delicate balance between strategy and form, rigor and freedom, particular and generic, immediacy and scalability. Combining program and future, their projects are synonymous with open infrastructures, capable of responding to a multitude of future potentialities and a vast malleability of uses. Bruther is part of a new wave of practices, which contributes to a radical renewal of French architectural culture. Winner of many prizes and competitions, the Bruther studio was the subject of a monograph entitled Introduction in 2014, and many other international publications (2G, released in June 2017 and El Croquis, released in 2018) and international conferences.

Laurent Stalder has been an architect and professor of history and theory at ETH Zurich since 2006. His researches and publications are aimed on the history and the theory of architecture from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century where it faces history of technology. His most recent publications include : "Hermann Muthesius. Das Landhaus als kulturgeschichtlicher Entwurf" (2008), "Valerio Olgiati" (2008), "Der Schwellenatlas" (2009), "God & Co. François Dallegret : Beyond bubble" (2011), "Atelier Bow Bow. A Primer" (2013), "Fritz Haller : Architekt und Forscher" (2015), "Architecture/Machine" (2017) and "Architectural Ethnography" (2018). His essays have been published in AA Files, Arch +, Greyroom, Journal of Architecture, Werk Bauen & Wohnen and Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, among others.
As the self-renewing discipline that is architecture, Éditions Cosa Mentale picks up the torch of the critical magazine—which was their very first form. They wish to enrich the debate around architecture by bringing a word that confronts to the news. Architecture is at the convergence of questioning, a discipline nourished by cross-disciplinary approaches. As such, as a signature, Cosa Mentale endeavours to keep a critical point of view, enriched by a social and political look which the architectural discipline depends on, to highlight its complexity and aspirations.

For each issue, two contributors are invited to share their thoughts on a new theme.

Edited by Simon Campedel.
Graphic design: Spassky Fischer
Published in November 2020
Bilingual edition (English / French)
23 x 30 cm (softcover)
64 pages (b/w ill.)
ISBN : 978-2-491039-05-9

© Éditions Cosa Mentale

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