Valero Gadan Architectes

Valero Gadan Architectes has produced a great many buildings for a broad spectrum of frequently complex programs. However, their recent projects all have one thing in common. Each of these buildings – whether the municipal health center at La Courneuve, the housing units and gymnasium in Saint-Ouen, the Necker Foundation’s Imagine healthcare institute in Paris, or the Louise Michel high school in Epinay – has a carefully worked frontage, clear proof of the attention paid to façades, to designs and intents, to materials, to outlines, to colors, to architecture’s ability to stimulate identity and appropriation. 

Graphic design as a major dimension of architecture provides the introductory theme and guiding thread of an exhibition entitled Impressions d’empreintes. This evolution manifests a change in architectural thinking. Radicalness, tension and rationality are expressed in projects with fluid outlines, reversible functions. The agency’s history and the convictions of its two partners have enabled it to build a culture of openness and service that facilitates a true dialogue with all the parties involved in each project. Valero Gadan has delivered almost a hundred buildings. Those presented here were chosen carefully, but not as an attempt to provide a synopsis or to look back on the past. Rather, they showcase ongoing projects, the avenues being explored, and look towards the future.