On the occasion of an event organized at the Ecole nationale supérieure d'architecture of Paris-Val de Seine with the student communities, teachers and professionals of architecture, Rima Abdul Malak, Minister of Culture, has unveiled the outlines of a new national ranking, RESEDA, intended to highlight the most eco-friendly End of Study Projects (PFE) carried out by students in their final year in the National Higher Schools of Architecture.
The Ministry of Culture is responsible for 20 national architecture colleges, bringing together nearly 20,000 students, a veritable breeding ground for future architects who will shape the world of tomorrow. For several years now, the ecological transition has called for a renewal of architecture and urban planning practices. It is at the heart of the teaching and work carried out in the network of national architecture colleges. At the end of their studies, 2450 students spread over the French territory present a PFE, decisive step before entering professional life. This PFE allows the student to demonstrate the skills acquired in his training, by implementing his own architectural approach.
The RESEDA Awards aim to reward, each year, one project per school, the 20 most innovative PFE for sustainable development.
The first winners will be unveiled on the occasion of the Journées Nationales de l'Architecture in October 2023, then in April 2024, will benefit from a residence at Villa Médicis as part of the Cabanes festival that invites architects each year, artists and researchers to invest the historic gardens of the Académie de France in Rome to work on constructions on the theme of sustainable and modular housing. This ideal framework of work, meetings and emulation will allow the winners to work together, to collectively forge convictions and to build the engine that will be that of their future professional practice.
The name Réséda refers to a sustainable flowering plant, symbol of modesty, refuge for bees and whose green color, frequently used in architecture (green dome of the Grand Palais for example), is also that of ecology. RESEDA is also the acronym for RESidence Student for the Dsustainability in Architecture.
Candidates who wish to participate should include their research in themes resolutely focused on the challenges of the ecological transition: sustainable new construction, intervention on the existing, urban development and requalification, revitalization of rural areas, conceptual and innovative architecture, etc.
The RESEDA jury will be composed of:
- Christine Leconte, President of the National Council of the Ordre des architectes
- Pablo Katz, architect and president of the Academy of Architecture
- Philippe Madec, architect, full member of the National Council of Teaching-Researchers of Schools of Architecture and the Academy of Architecture
- Dominique Gauzin-Müller, architect, researcher and teacher
- Emmanuel Launiau, President of the real estate group Quartus
- Alicia Orsini, winner of the contest Albums des jeunes architectes et paysagistes 2018 with the agency Orma architettura
- Nicola Delon, architect, agency Encore Heureux Architectes
- Sam Stourdze, Director of the Académie de France in Rome – Villa Medicis
- Director of Architecture at the Ministry of Culture
Recognizing the excellence of their work by a high-level jury, The RESEDA awards will help to support young graduates of national architecture colleges in their project of professional integration and enhance their commitment to a sustainable future. It also aims to pool and disseminate practices or lines of virtuous architectural research, aimed at all student and professional communities.
These 20 winning projects will be emblematic of the major lever of transformation of the world that represents architecture.