Lacaton & Vassal
Lacaton & Vassal was founded in 1989 by Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, graduates of the National School of Architecture in Bordeaux. Their projects pursue social and environmental goals through attention to climate, transformation of the existing, economy, and the user. Based on a principle of generosity, their work serves life, use, and appropriation, with a strong commitment to sustainability and social impact. Working carefully with climate and what is already there, reusing, transforming, never demolishing, and challenging standards are core principles of the office.
For over three decades, the studio has designed social housing, cultural and academic institutions, public space, and urban strategies. Projects include the regeneration of the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, the Nantes School of Architecture, multiple social housing projects, and the transformation of modernist housing blocks, including 530 apartments in Bordeaux. Current projects include the renovation of the Kampnagel theatre in Hamburg and the transformation of a former hospital into housing in Paris.
They hold teaching positions, notably at UDK Berlin, ETH Zurich, EPF Lausanne, Harvard GSD, and the Universities of Sydney and Singapore. They received the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Fundació Mies van der Rohe (2019), the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture (2018), the Daylight Award – VELUX Foundation (2011), the Grand Prix National d’Architecture, France (2008), and were awarded the Pritzker Prize in 2021.
