Ten "Infinite Places" will represent France at the Venice Architecture Biennale

From the Centquatre in Paris to the Tri Postal in Avignon: ten collaborative, ecological or united places, designed in areas that were once neglected, will represent France at the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale 2018.

These spaces, brought together for the Biennale under the name "Infinite Places", are Le Centquatre and Les Grands Voisins in Paris, L'Hôtel Pasteur in Rennes, La Grande Halle in Colombelles, Les Ateliers Médicis in Clichy-sous-Bois Montfermeil, La Friche de la Belle de Mai in Marseille, Le Tri Postal in Avignon, Le 6B in Saint-Denis, La Convention in Auch and La Ferme du Bonheur in Nanterre, the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs announced on Thursday. of Culture and the French Institute.

These places have the particularity of "inventing solutions in which architecture acts" for the common good, said Thursday Vincent Berjot, director general of heritage, during a press conference at the Grands Voisins in Paris.

Some of these places being illegally occupied or threatened with demolition, "the fact of bringing them to the public square (by selecting them) legitimizes their occupation", estimated Sébastien Eymard, architect of the Encore Heureux collective, chosen in October to design the Pavilion French from the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale, from May 26 to November 25, 2018.

Among the ten sites, La Ferme du Bonheur, an alternative place created in 1992 a few steps from the University of Nanterre, hosts, among other things, clubbing afternoons and a research project in urban agriculture; 6B, a building destined for demolition, converted in 2010 into an artists' residence, offers exhibitions, debates and festivals; The Tri Postal, wasteland, became in 2013 an associative city, with a solidarity restaurant, accommodation and workshops dedicated to sustainable development.

"Infinite places" highlights the place of architecture facing the "challenge of ecology and solidarity", commented Nicola Delon, also from the group Encore Heureux, architecture being crossed by the will of "respond locally to global issues".

The vocation of these places thus coincides with the theme of the 2018 Architecture Biennale, "Freespace", a space of freedom.

During the Biennale, an exhibition will present the ten chosen places, notably in the form of photos and models. A catalog bringing together these initiatives will be published and a series of debates is in preparation.

An eleventh location, echoing the architectural challenges of the city of Venice, will soon be revealed.