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In 2004 NAJA [new albums of young architecture] rewarded LAN Architecture created two years earlier by Benoit Jallon (1972) and Umberto Napolitano (1975) both freshly graduated with the congratulations of the jury of the Villette Paris Architecture School. Genuine national recognition is saving them from anonymity. Many young architects are often isolated with their first projects and clients, so the two friends are immediately opening themselves to the interdisciplinary nature of architecture. The name LAN – Local Architecture Network clearly reflects the permanent presence of the network concept. Each project has a vital role in the context and the environment. Far from being merely aesthetic or a desperate quest for identity this approach is directed towards observation, strategic analysis and thereby reaches sensitive and appropriate responses to the problems posed. “The point of departure is the search for joy of the location - the details which give an architectural design its environment and individuality. Only afterwards do the first spatial strategies and improvement of the location develop.” Each is born from the need to respect the environment when inserting a newly built object.
Now run by twenty or so dynamic professionals, LAN Architecture is broadening the volume of its activities, winning many competitions in France and elsewhere. 15 designs are currently in progress. Benoit Jallon and Umberto Napolitano plan to develop their activity in several countries while respecting the programmes and specifics of each. And to continue exploring new fields of action for a robust social and urban image.
1. Benoît Jallon and Umberto Napolitano
© photo Benoit Linero, Paris
2. Ludothèque [toy library] (Bonneuil sur Marne, 2006)
The thinking in this project revolves round using an existing building, the design of a games space for children and the creation of a public facility in an at risk area, all on a very restricted budget. In reply the architects have set up a sort of concrete shell in unsurfaced concrete like a bunker. The contrast between the hermetic exterior and the intimate and luminous interior spaces is the key to understanding it.
© photo Jean Marie Monthiers
3. Marchesini France offices (Saint Mesmes, 2008)
Located in Seine and Marne, the building was studied in terms of situation and morphology to mark a close relationship with the countryside. Its architecture is made up of two distinct volumes, one light, dedicated to work spaces, the other anchored in the ground for the workshop and the storage and exhibition spaces. This separation corresponds to the different needs of light, special qualities, finishings, etc.
© photo Jean Marie Monthiers
4. EDF Archive Centre (Bure, completion 2010)
The main objective is to produce an LEB (Low Energy Building) with an intelligent morphology, a high performance external surface, a choice of relevant systems and a production of renewable energy. Of a total surface of about 7000m2, the five floor construction is designed according a simple and rational plan sometimes resembling a bunker and an industrial process. To recall the image of a light building, in movement, the facade of the earth colour concrete is encrusted with 100,000 mirror stainless steel patches. The shell of the building therefore transcends its limits and reflects the surrounding colours.
© LAN Architecture, RSI studio, Paris
5. Student residence (Paris, completion 2010)
A double project (street and the heart of the block) extends the views of the urban network, this future student residence matches the image of LAN's strategy: never interfere with the light of the neighbourhood. Creation of two splits, the transparency of the ground floor and the slate colour frontal define and reflect the buildings of the Parisian neighbourhoods.
© LAN Architecture, RSI studio, Paris
6. Public housing (Paris, completion 2010)
Born from the challenge of responding at the time to the need for urban integration and the design of a pioneer unit in the context of sustainable development, this design follows a double logic: to orientate the largest number buildings on the park and minimise the impact on the street by setting up a facade system with a minimum of openings to avoid any loss of captured energy.
© LAN Architecture, RSI studio, Paris
7. Neue Hamburger Terrassen (Hamburg, in progress).
To build this new neighbourhood means in the first place to try to work on the iconic terrace, to define it, decode it, to give it an evolved and contemporary version.
The absence of cars and the small size of the buildings means that the inhabitants can quickly appropriate the large planted public areas. The “collective individualisation” philosophy has motivated architects in the design of accommodation in several batches of different densities. The challenge was to supply individual domestic quality, heat conservation and energy performances linked to collective projects, the comfort of the car and the pleasure of living in a pedestrian area.
© LAN Architecture, RSI studio, Paris
http://www.lan-paris.com/
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