Nicolas Dorval-Bory Architectes
(France)NICOLAS DORVAL-BORY ARCHITECTES is a Paris-based architecture office founded in 2008 by Nicolas Dorval-Bory, joined by long-time collaborator Hugo Taillardat as partner in 2025.
The office was nominated for the Prix de la Première Œuvre in 2014 and won the AJAP in 2016. Its projects, developed in France and abroad, explore a precise and scientific dialogue between atmospheres and spatial composition across a wide range of scales. The practice is closely linked to academia, particularly the ÉNSA Versailles, where Nicolas Dorval-Bory has been extensively teaching since 2014 and acts as a director since 2025.
The coolest summer of the rest of our lives
Becoming Circular
Drawing on our research project entitled The Mechanics of Cold, conducted in Paris with the Pavillon de l’Arsenal and then at ENSA-Versailles, the workshop proposed here explores the spatial and architectural potential of coolness, as a pretext for imagining an unexpected, comfortable, and frugal climatic future. It will first study the physical and thermodynamic principles of cold and the devices for production, conservation, and diffusion (both vernacular and technological), based on studies previously conducted by our office. By visiting Barcelona and its surroundings, we will seek resources that can become the material and cultural bases of new coolness devices. Finally, in a true exploration of the thermodynamic principles of coolness, we will imagine and construct architectural micro-situations, contrary to what is obvious. Perhaps experiencing the hottest summer ever known, we will have to invent rituals and techniques to forever remember the coolest summer of the rest of our lives.
