In the framework of the Young Architects Forum last year in Barcelona, ACE talked with Jaufret Barrot about quality in the built environment, sustainability, temporary use and reuse of empty buildings, YTAA and the relevance of architectural policies. Jaufret BARROT is a French architect and civil-engineer based in Toulouse (France). Finalist of the Young Talent Architect Award in 2016, he designed a solution to adapt unused buildings into temporary housing, with the contribution and implication of the people living or working there (Bordelongue neighborhood, Toulouse).
“Nowadays, a large parts of real estate projects are equivalent to consumer products, responding to a trend, designed for a pre-defined use and for a certain lifespan. It’s a short-term vision. For example, an office building that’s more than 5 years old is considered as an old building by marketeers. We need to look differently at what they have built, but also to value existing elements – what’s already there. We must reconsider these residual spaces i.e. vacant buildings. They are both resources and opportunities. “
Read the full interview at the Architects’ Council of Europe.