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by Jean-Pierre Pranlas-Descours (Editor)
Throughout history,
the relationship between landscape and architecture has formed the basis
of culture and the development of human settlements. The unfolding of a
site, its transformation through the construction of buildings or of
entire cities, translates into this basic idea: that history extends
geography. In recent decades, generic architecture has increasingly
homogenized the appearance of different territories, resulting in a
profoundly different understanding of nature and landscape.
Within his
work, French architect and urban planner Jean-Pierre Pranlas-Descours
continuously articulates the relationship between landscape and
architecture. This book traces his line of thought by reflecting on 16
projects and their specific conditions.
Author Biography
Jean-Pierre Pranslas-Descours qualified as anarchitect at the École d'Architecture de Versailles and received a Masters in
Medieval History from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. He won the French Academy
in Rome competition at the Villa Medicis in 1986. His architectural and urban
projects cross the different scales for a sustainable world. He won several
urban competitions in Europe (Barcelona, Reykjavik, El Prat de Llobregat) and
has realized housing and public buildings in France. He has taught in different
architecture faculties, at the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées and is
presently full professor at the Ecole Nationale d'Architecture de
Paris-Malaquais and has been visiting professor at the City College in New
York. He received the Robert Auzelle prize for the Urban project for the
Bottiere-Chenaie/Nantes. He was awarded several architectural prizes, as the
International S-ARCH for the World Best Public Building 2020, and the D'A
architectural review 2020 for the Chambre des Métiers et de l'Artisanat in
Lille, and the Holcim Foundation Gold Award Asia- Pacific for the Yuzhong
project in 2021. He received the Honour Medaille of the Académie Architecture
(Paris) in 2012, where he became an official member in 2022.
