Ré]inventer l'existant 2025" competition
Victoria Roussel
Congratulations to Eve Bergeron, Emma Coppens and Lilia Hocine, students at ENSA Paris-la Villette, winners and finalists in the third edition of the competition [Ré]inventer l’existant 2025: les architectes de demain imaginent notre avenir post-carbone, organized by DRAC and DRIEAT Île-de-France!
The “Le Ventre de la Baleine” project, under the direction of Guillaume Baron and Mesnil Sineus, won the “Architect Mediator” special mention.
On October 8, 2025, at Les Récollets in Paris, the winners of the 3rd edition of the competition were announced. Of the 27 projects submitted, 10 were selected by the jury for their quality and the diversity of the typologies studied, but only 4 teams ended up as winners. Composed of students and teachers from architecture schools in the Paris region, these teams were recognized for their projects to transform existing buildings, reconciling sustainability, innovation and heritage preservation.
The “Belly of the Whale” project
“Le Ventre de la Baleine”, an artistic wasteland in Pantin that has been home to over 300 artists since 1989, has escaped demolition thanks to a co-construction process involving local residents. The aim of the project is to rehabilitate the building, improve its energy performance and finance the work through the construction of new housing. A proposal that combines creativity, industrial heritage and social housing, demonstrating that an alternative to destruction is possible.
Exhibition for the Journées nationales de l’architecture
An exhibition of the competition’s 10 outstanding projects is open to the public until November 7 at the Couvent des Récollets, Maison de l’Architecture IDF.
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🚨IMPORTANT UPDATE // 2026 National Architecture Days at ENSA Paris-la Villette
PLEASE NOTE: Some events have been canceled or postponed due to student protests in support of the high school students’ movement and will therefore no longer take place during the National Architecture Days. In the event of a postponement, the new date will be announced shortly on this website.
"Something Entirely Different: Architecture in Belgium" by Christophe Van Gerrewey, translated and published by Éditions de la Villette
A true chronicle of Belgian architecture written by one of today’s finest critics; a look at one of the most dynamic hubs of the contemporary architectural scene.
Two ENSAPLV students win awards at the Cabin Festival at the headwaters of Lake Annecy
The Project “L’ombre portée” by Antoine Robert and Pierre Renault, first-year master’s students, is one of the 14 cabins selected by the jury of this architecture festival, which has been held for the past eleven years in the Sources du Lac d’Annecy community of municipalities, an area located between Annecy and Albertville.
Between late May and late June, the two winners built their treehouse to scale, with the help of their friend Pierre-Louis Noyelle, on the natural site that had been assigned to them in advance in the town of Giez.
The 14 huts offer a fresh perspective on seven municipalities and their geography: Chevaline, Val de Chaise, Doussard, Giez, Lathuile, Saint-Ferréol, and Faverges-Seythenex. These temporary installations will remain in place for the duration of the festival, from June 27 to November 6, 2026.
Be sure to check it out this summer!
Find out more about the State Architects and Planners (AUE) competition
The DRAC d’Île-de-France and CROAIF are organizing two information events to promote the missions of State Architects and Planners (AUE) and increase the number of registrations for the AUE competition, a civil service management body.
During these meetings, which will take place simultaneously by videoconference and in person at the Chapelle des Récollets (Paris 10th arrondissement), AUEs from the Ministries of Culture, Ecological Transition, the Armed Forces and Europe and Foreign Affairs will give presentations and answer participants’ questions on :
- training courses available to prepare for the competition ;
- the competition, tests and expectations (timetable, skills required, etc.) ;
- jobs in government departments: urban renewal, landscape evolution, project management, heritage preservation, ENSA… ;
- career development in the civil service.
Both events will be hosted by Olivier Lerude, Head of the Regional Department of Architecture and Heritage Spaces (SRAEP) at DRAC Île-de-France.
Bookstore release: "Mai 68. Parole à l'architecture", Éditions de la Villette
The book brings together some thirty interviews with key figures from this historic turning point, including Jean-Louis Cohen, François Very, Bernard Huet, Roland Castro, Henri Ciriani, Monique Eleb and Jacques Lucan… Curated by Caroline Maniaque, Éléonore Marantz and Jean-Louis Violeau, who also curated the exhibition “Mai 68. L’Architecture aussi!” exhibition at the Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine in summer 2018, the book restores the kaleidoscopic words of this “generation” and puts them into historical perspective.
Award for an ENSAPLV student
Camille Chenal-Mitterrand, a Master 2 student, is a member of one of the eight multi-disciplinary winning teams in the “Dressing the palisades of the Notre-Dame construction site” competition organized by the City of Paris and the CAUE 75.
While we wait for the prize-winning graphic designs to dress the palisades of the construction site between 2026 and 2028, it’s already possible to browse and zoom in on the entire line designed by each team on the CAUE 75 website.