Cities everywhere have deteriorated. Both their public spaces and their ordinary buildings. In Advocacy against above-ground urbanism and for a reasoned architecture, the architect Olivier Barancy draws up a critical panorama of the tangents which the great cities of the world are now taking. It recalls, in a vigorous tone, the urgency of reinvesting the common space, by betting on a realistic approach and renewable materials. It also pleads for the establishment of structures that are both reversible and frugal in terms of energy.
Yes, cities must be redesigned, believes Olivier Barancy. If only so that we can survey them on foot again, without too much danger.
Trained at the Paris-Belleville school of architecture, he evokes in his invigorating book a number of cities in the world now designed not to meet the needs of their inhabitants, but to attract promoters, investors and tourists. The result, in many places, is a dreadful concentration of social injustices.
Mr. Barancy is unique in that he has been interested for a long time in the case of Quebec. “The subject of my degree was Old Montreal,” he explained in an interview with Duty. “The project involved rehabilitating two warehouses on rue Saint-Paul Ouest. He even lived for a while in Quebec in the 1980s. Projects to reuse Quebec churches and convents, converted into collective housing, could serve as an example elsewhere, he believes.
Rehabilitate rather than shave
We lack concern for the buildings we already own, repeats Olivier Barancy. “Tearing down should only be an exception, not the universal creed put forward by tech-savvy bureaucrats,” as is now the case everywhere.
The architect pleads on the contrary for the conversion, maintenance and improvement of old buildings. “By respecting the compatibility of current techniques with the existing one, we can remedy the most serious disorders. Even partial demolition can and should be avoided. »
He prefers “sober and modest architecture” to concrete orgies and false talk about greening. There is an urgent need, to hear it, to “rehabilitate the existing heritage, whatever it may be”. It invites people to resist the flashy work favored by merchants whose projects are daubed with green.
Should real estate developers be better regulated? “No,” he said without hesitation. Real estate developers, “it is not necessary! ” Quite simply. Urban planners and developers have largely transformed the countryside into the suburbs, he regrets. It’s enough.
His models? Olivier Barancy cites the work of Philippe Madec, an architect who is one of the pioneers in terms of eco-responsibility. “The message of happy frugality is slowly spreading,” he notes. It also evokes the practice of André Ravéreau, an architect who worked in Algeria leaving a lot of room for the knowledge of the workers.
Renewal
It is not necessarily on the side of architects that we should hope for a revival of cities. “Building production has been the responsibility of engineers, standards, insurance companies and control offices for at least thirty years. The architect, very often, is now only an artist producing images, at least in France. It’s a little different in Belgium or Quebec. »
Are architects responsible for the state of the world’s great cities? “Their responsibility certainly exists, but it is weaker than that of their sponsors”, whether they are private or public, thinks Olivier Barancy. “Architects respond lazily to the order. Their achievements have no direct link with the real needs of a society, but are closely linked, on the other hand, with the celebrity of their names. “The Asian market is fond of big names”, explains Barancy, multiplying the examples. That of Norman Foster in Masdar City (Abu Dhabi) and Neom (Saudi Arabia), of Dominique Perrault in South Korea. “We had a narrow escape in Toronto, where Alphabet [Google] claimed to design an entire neighborhood. »
He willingly talks about Jakarta, São Paulo, Abuja, Sissi City, several other cities. “It is often architectural firms completely disconnected from local realities” that have designed them. Olivier Barancy explains that these firms are chosen primarily because of their prestige rather than their know-how. “Emerging countries are under the lure of sirens, archistars repeating the coup of Le Corbusier’s Voisin plan, that is to say, a clean slate. »
Why not rather draw lessons from “vernacular architecture, therefore without an architect, modest, which uses local and healthy materials”? This method of construction encourages the promotion of short circuits. Simple construction uses materials sourced close to home. From the outset, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), plastics, glass wool and many other industrial products are put aside. Buildings are biobased, natural ventilation, ecological materials, etc. “In short, the current objectives! » This architecture, « it would therefore be necessary to make it better known in order to be inspired by it today ».
mirages
Are the “eco-districts” promised by several cities a decoy? ” Unfortunately, yes. I speak, in the Advocacyof French examples, where in the name of green tech, municipalities free themselves from town planning rules: the presence of a few virtuous gadgets — control of water leaks, management of car parks, solar panels — makes it possible to construct, in the heart of the historic city, buildings 50 meters high when the local urban plan does not allow to exceed thirty meters…”
The “sustainable ecological city”, with its electric cars everywhere, constitutes a pure fool’s market, believes the architect. For cities, the electric car is far from offering much better prospects. Admittedly, it is “less noisy, but it occupies the public space just as much. Not to mention the scarcity of battery components, their harmfulness. Bernard Rudofsky, on whom I rely in my Advocacyclaimed that the street should belong to everyone in a book titled Streets for People (1969)”.
The same goes for the discourse on the use of wood. “Today, the renewable nature of wood is appealing. However, this use is not new. “Montreal has had wooden buildings for a very long time. » First « solid wood, squared logs, protected by a stone wall, then by bricks. Then, the sawn wood in frame, with interstitial insulation, covered with clapboard or other. Buildings up to 15 floors can be made of wood. But what wood are we talking about now? “In fact, artificial, laminated wood, which contains glue, formaldehyde, with antifungal and insecticide treatments. In short, poisons. »
Vegetation is another trick. The least ecological projects now camouflage mountains of reinforced concrete behind curtains of greenery. This goes so far as to want to believe that these towers are actually “forest buildings”! For the most part, these are construction programs that are banal opportunistic. These are opportunities for multinationals, often the most polluting, to smooth their image thanks to an all-green, up-to-date communication plan.
Modesty
Basically, it is for them, again and again, to “grow the consumer market”. However, the city, on the contrary, must be considered other than in a pattern of growth. Rather, it should be viewed with modesty.
Olivier Barancy has written a few books, including a critical essay on Le Corbusier. What did he want to do this time, with this Advocacy against above-ground urbanism and for a reasoned architecture ? Seeing to quickly reform our mentalities with regard to the city? “I wanted to write a short text that everyone could read, to raise awareness, beyond specialized circles. I don’t like the word “fast”, because speed leads to mistakes. Let’s take small steps! »
The city is not the problem, he adds. “The city is the solution. »