Conclusions of seminary

Posted on 20 May 2012 by rmhprize

by Jean-Christophe Simon (RMHF1993), Inspecteur Général des Patrimoines, Collège des Monuments Historiques and Ruth Todd FAIA (RMHF1994)

Page and Turnbull, Inc San Francisco (CA), Principal

RMH Fellows in Toulouse – Carcassonne – Albi

Those three days spent together in Toulouse gave us the opportunity to meet, exchange ideas with all the actors involved in preservation and heritage enhancement

Landowners and policy-makers
Project managers and general contractors
Scientific and technical control experts
Public institutions in charge of opening to the public policy
And let us not forget the artisans of another heritage: gastronomy. We have in mind the foie gras, and the elaborated wines served so generously by the Chateau de Serres.
The continuity, the vitality of our common heritage, depends on the good will and the cross hands investment of all those actors with whom we cross ideas along these days of studies.
Albi is the perfect synthesis of our work covering the three topics studied during our workshops:
The monument in its environment
The accessible monuments
The creation within monuments

From your contributions and reflexions, I shall retain that to be alive heritage has to be totally part of the city; that not only we work first for the inhabitants but also for the visitors and monument amateurs. I am deeply convinced that heritage is the common property of the nation and of humankind.

To have a real meaning it has to be accessible to all, it has to be part of everyone’s life.

We, French and American architects, share totally these opinions.

Our concerns bring us together. They are fully personified in the values of the Richard Morris Hunt Fellowship.

By those exchanges, by those “Regards Croisés”, clearly we understand how similar our worries are and how much we can bring to each other.

These crossed experiences, this network of the Fellows finds here its justification.

I, greatly and sincerely thank you for the value of your contribution and for the strength of your commitment.

Ruth Todd, FAIA adds:

Since 1994, not much have change in America regarding our preservation process. At reverse, I feel that in France, much has changed. Boundaries have expanded and urbanism is now an important issue in preservation. With the information age, technology makes it easier to communicate and participate.

We, the RMH Fellows, have achieved a critical mass and each year is raising the quality of the fellowship. We owe this to the commitment of our “chaperones”.

Toulouse, Albi, Carcasonne – Seminar RMHF 2012

Posted on 16 May 2012 by rmhprize

Richard Morris Hunt Fellowship RMH Fellows meet in Toulouse – Carcassonne – Albi. May 25th. – May 29th. 2012

Under the guidance of Vanessa Fernandez (RMHF 2010) and Jean-Christophe Simon (RMHF 1993)

After Paris, Lyon, Washington DC, Angers, Chicago, the RMHF wished to be associated with the city of Toulouse, remarquable example of «Tradition» and «Architectural Innovation» in an historical context.

Acting as a laboratory of ideas, enriched by the comparison and contrast of experiences and perspectives of each Fellow, this seminar will put into perspective the latest developments in theory and practice related to heritage conservation. It will also reinforcethe personal and professional bonds of the Fellows, ensuring the strength and sustainability of the RMHF.

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Wang Shu and the “Leçon inaugurale” of Ecole de Chaillot, in Paris

Posted on 10 January 2012 by rmhprize

For the first time at the Ecole de Chaillot, a foreign architect was invited to the prestigious « Leçon inaugurale ».

WANG SHU,

Global Award for sustainable Architecture in 2007,

Grande médaille d’or de l’Académie d’Architecture de Paris, in 2011

In February 2012, Wang Shu will be the winner of the prestigious Pritzker Prize. France had already fully recognized his extraordinary merit.

He graduated with a degree in architecture from South-East University of Nankin and earned his PHD in 2000 at Tongji University of Shanghai.

In 1998, with his wife, Lu Wenyu, he established his agency Amateur Architecture Studio in Hangzhou. Currently he holds the position of Director of Architecture Department at the University of Hangzhou.

Wang Shu demonstrates a sensitive and poetic approach with traditional savoir-faire, using a very contemporary architectural vocabulary.

Some of his works :

Ningbo contemporary Art Museum (2006)
In the city of Hangzhou, Zhongshan street renovation
The Garden of Tiles at the 10^th Venice Biennal (2006)
The Tengtou-Ningbo pavilion at the Shanghai Universal Exhibition (2010).

WANG-SHU joins the tradition of the « Leçon inaugurale » of Chaillot, a link between creation, history and patrimony. He re-discovers tradition, comprehends it and transcends it.
It is clear that the French architectural elite are taking notice of this talented architect.