Conference: "The economy of concrete: companions, engineers, companies"

Robert Herrmann, president of the Eurometropolis of Strasbourg welcomed the 300 guests, who came to listen to the theme of the economy of concrete: companions, engineers, companies, the one who loudly claims his passion for the concrete material.

National Grand Prize for Architecture, Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, Knight of the Legion of Honor, Gold Medal of the Academy of Architecture, among other distinctions, Rudy Ricciotti has never stopped for over thirty years of experimenting with the whole range of possibilities offered by concrete, its preferred material.

Building is a matter of knowledge and concrete

A virtuoso of concrete, a great defender of local know-how, Rudy Ricciotti loves materials that take root in the earth and in the lives of women and men. Whether they are masons, engineers, site managers, journeymen or craftsmen, those he calls knowledgeable have taught him everything. Building is definitely good for him a human matter of knowledge and concrete, as the material calls for advanced techniques and trades and requires vertical discipline between all and all.

Concrete is a material for the redistribution of wealth

Rudy Ricciotti advocates the use of concrete, which is both a great source of labor and greener than the postmodern buildings today in vogue. Unlike wheat, oil, gas, cotton ... concrete is not a rare earth, a speculative material. It is not a dematerialized mode but rather a laborious practice. There is no country in the world that does not produce its concrete. Concrete is created, manufactured and developed within a radius of thirty kilometers.

It is a material of redistribution of wealth because it is like flour with bread: from this component, we decline a lot. It is localizable and it does not relocate! You can make them very easily all over the planet. From the mineral kingdom, its primary resources are available everywhere in France and its sector contributes to the economic dynamism of the territories and the sustainability of jobs that cannot be relocated.

An architectural work, a true ode to concrete

Concrete ambassador, combining creative power and real constructive culture, Rudy Ricciotti has sublimated innovative concrete in emblematic creations in France and beyond our borders.

He presented some of the works that have earned him international renown: the Mucem in Marseille, the Islamic Arts Department at the Louvre, the Musée de la Romanie in Nîmes, the Cité Musicale Île Seguin in Boulogne Billancourt, the Museum Cocteau in Menton, the Nikolaïsaal Philharmonic in Potsdam in Germany, the Gstaad Philharmonic in Switzerland, the Fashion Museum in Milan, the International Center of Art and Culture in Liège, the Palace of Cinema La Mostra in Venice, the museum of civilizations on Reunion Island, the Passerelle pour la Paix in Seoul, the Passerelle du Pont du Diable in Gignac, the Pont de la République in Montpellier, the Jean Bouin Stadium in Paris ...

In Alsace, Rudy Ricciotti notably produced the auditorium Les Tanzmatten in Sélestat in 1995 and the humanist library in Sélestat in 2014.

Extract from the thesis on the architectural party / The look of the architect on humanism:

Faith in Man is not an ideal for the architect but a mental prerequisite without which our practice would be futile, therefore useless. The humanist library of Sélestat, as an emblematic place, testifies to a formidable period of intellectual profusion. The period under consideration was conducive to inspiration for universal happiness and today calls us, as practitioners, to respect and humility as much as it ignores all backward sectarianism. Beyond the enhancement of the collections, it was also a question of strengthening the roots of this precious institutional and collective equipment in the fabric of the streets and squares of downtown Sélestat in the process of requalification. The humanist library of Sélestat, if it is not a museum, nevertheless ensures its mission. The building allows a museography, as desired, turned on the intimate and the proximity with the document viewed without discrediting the work of our ancestors.

Rudy Ricciotti, who handles thought as well as architecture, is also the author of several works. The conference was followed by a dedication session of three of them: Architecture is a combat sport, where he uncompromisingly gives an overview of the challenges and perspectives of his profession, Concrete in police custody, a real architectural and theatrical manifesto, In vain, a compilation of mood notes from the architect and The Exile of Beauty.