Texts on Architecture

Why are some spaces better than others?

The following texts offer answers to these issues. It is essentially a question of composition and proportion. One does not have to be conscious about this to appreciate architecture.

For those who create, this knowledge can be of interest.

I was asked to write a text on “architecture and psychoanalysis” by an American review. Considered “too Lacanian, it was not published. After simplification, it was published in Architecture and Ideas for architects.

I love answering questions, especially ones that address issues I feel strongly about.

Architecture is a difficult subject because it is an art. It is easy to say things no one can prove and to create buildings that defy explanation.

I talk a lot about proportion and composition.

But why? It is the common thread I found in great masterpieces of architecture. Palladio, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright were very much concerned with geometry. Architecture is a geometrical experience. The more it is geometrical, the more we notice it.

In this text, I show how I applied dynamic proportions to a museum project I submitted for an architectural competition.

This article was written for the review published for an event held in a former incinerator in Montreal.

I created the scenography, positioned the artwork and designed the lighting. Then I was asked to write about it.

I like clear and simple buildings with straight and parallel surfaces.

I had a few reflections about Daniel Libeskind’s eclectic architecture, supposedly full of meaning. Even if I am theoretically opposed to this kind of architecture, I enjoyed visiting the Felix Nussbaum Haus he designed in Germany.

This is an article written for On Site review where I talk about the real, the symbolic and the imaginary.

I thought it was important to say these things I learned in psychoanalysis. They could help clarify some issues in architecture.

Architects think their buildings should mean something.

Maybe. But this is out of their control.

I point out in this text that a building should make sense before aspiring to mean something. We can control sense, but not meaning.

How? With geometry.

Videos

For those who do not like to read, these videos are a great introduction to my work. You can start with the short 5-minute ones and move forward in length.

I congratulate Antti Seppänen, the talented video artist from Helsinki who produced them. His sensitive approach creates an engaging and poetic experience. I discovered his work in 2013 while planning a visit to Finland.