A blank page and a book that you will write

An image of the desert to the Qatar, where it is preparing to build a city. A blank page and a book that you will write. The dialogue between architects and writers is established in Venice on 17 October at the initiative of the Afex (French architects to export), in the 11th architecture Biennale. Similarities between men of art and men of letters: a vision of what you will build, a perception of the emotion of the recipient of his work, the ability to project itself.

The theme of the international exhibition of projects of buildings and cities in the world "Out There: Architecture Beyond Building" lends itself to such exchanges. "The architecture beyond the Act of building" certainly includes construction, concrete, but also a reflection on the life of the inhabitants. He hisses the recall of a good adaptation to the use, underscores the need for human well occupy space. The creation, the future of architecture naturally rely on the apprehension of economic factors and taking account of sustainable development but not food to the understanding of the world, of the contribution of cultures, music, writings of others.

How and why show the architecture The President of the "Mostra" Venetian, Paolo Baratta, provides an answer: "architecture does not mean building a building but give life to the space around us and our social relations." It is the meeting of the vision and the reality and imagination applied to our living environment. "The choice of Venice, capital of the beauty and harmony, illustrates the point. In fact, architecture does not expose, it is lived and "suffering" to the daily. Citizens perceive gaps before the spectacle of poor buildings reproduced the same in all the cities of the world. Too many achievements of architects, even signed by "divas", do doubt the ability of these professionals to make the people happy. Aware has disapproval, the organizers of this event have circumvented the difficulty in having in the Arsenal and his rope and flags national Giardini of scale models and 3D panels, teaching, sometimes realistic, often utopian.

Back to the dialogue

Organized at the Unesco Palace in Venice, the Symposium of the Afex allows, in this period of crisis, decline and refounding in the confrontation of cultures, the architectural creation. One finds that it borrows vocabulary of the French language in referring to "writing" of the projects, "grammar" of the facades, the "syntax" of the environment. Bernard Reichen quoted philosopher Paul Ricoeur "plot development" of a situation. "Architecture brings together all the arts", enthuses Madeleine Houbart, Secretary General of the Afex.

How, through what channels the creation is permeates of the cultures of the world The practice of his art in another country changes the writing of an architect or a writer What are the cities of the world in their work Novel and illustrated by the news in this year 2008 where Jean Nouvel was awarded the Pritzker architecture and Jean-Marie Le Clézio the Nobel for literature , the debate on the "entries in the world" were staged in duets. Paul Andreu, designer of 20 airports delivered on five continents and Peking Opera, exchanged with Erik Orsenna, writer-academician. Bernard Reichen, pioneer of the pardons of the French industrial heritage and author of City quarters in France, Germany, Morocco, in Greece, has spoken with Roueida Ayache, associated architect Architecture-Studio. Jean-Michel Wilmotte, assets Seoul, Tokyo, Lisbon, Saint-Petersburg, has reflected with Marek Halter, that it is not. All are designed to leave a trace. Each has its source of inspiration. When it comes to design in China, "ask objects that trigger emotions", Paul Andreu "grown more in the streets than in the books of dynasties", while Wilmotte "tells more about the road leading from the airport to the city where it is called, the pace of the facades and the materials that say more about ways of life as the rhetoric book masters." Marek Halter says "let spinning his imagination and then visit verify the authenticity of his narrative." Precious architects "that we learn to look at," exclaims Orsenna, convinced it now "go look elsewhere in and out of his specialty". "In the 1970s, the space has changed faster than society.". Today, it is the contrary, observed Bernard Reichen, urban vision must deal with mobility and virtuality.

"Building for sustainable development", next the Afex guide is designed to educate architects and planners to this major issue. Another challenge.