ENSA Paris-Malaquais, Paris-La-Villette, Marne-la-Vallée

A presentation of student work from the architecture schools of Paris-Malaquais, Paris-La-Villette and Marne-la-Vallée

As part of its efforts to promote architectural and urban quality, the DRAC Île-de-France proposed a pedagogical cooperation initiative with the schools of architecture : the aim was to place students — future project leaders — in a real-world situation, facing an actual brief set by a client.

Two programs were proposed in 2006 : the first, put forward by the Ministry of Defense, was devoted to the rehabilitation of the Caserne de Reuilly site in Paris, a program consisting mainly of family housing for military personnel, along with certain commercial and public facilities ; the second concerned the construction of 20 new housing units and a 2,000 m² médiathèque. This therefore involves a major transformation of the built fabric, with a change of use for a major, though unlisted, 19th-century building. (…) The responses to these programs gave rise to very diverse, and at times imaginative, solutions for transforming the barracks itself into housing — solutions that will not fail to surprise, given the bold architectural approach of some of the projects.

Jean-François de Canchy
Director, DRAC Île-de-France

(Original text of 2007, machine translated in 2026.)