France – Paris
Founded in 2006 by Ingrid Taillandier, the ITAR architecture studio has the particularity to put the human being at the center of each of its projects. The main goal is to enrich the daily life of each user, where natural light and open spaces allow them to live in the city and their home simultaneously.
For ITAR, density is at the heart of living together, population growth and environmental issues.
*According to a survey conducted in 2007 by Sofres (French polling company), with a sample of 1,000 people supposedly representing national opinion, 67% of them see density as something negative. When density is criticized, it is in fact often modern architecture that is condemned. However, modern architecture and urbanism intended to offer an alternative to the traditional city, which was too dense and favored epidemics.
For the ITAR architecture studio, it should be a question of reasoned density, that is to say, to consider it intelligently and to work for a collective awareness whose objective would be the reduction of consumption and the city-nature balance.
For this, Ingrid Taillandier and her team do not hesitate to enrich themselves, or even to surround themselves with sociologists, philosophers or geographers in order to respond to the definitions of the terms habitat, dwelling or house. The dwelling place is no longer simply a dwelling but a refuge for the body and the spirit in which each person becomes an actor of his own existence and his environment. For ITAR Architectures, natural light is one of the fundamental elements of their approach, which is why it would be unthinkable today to design a building without outdoor spaces, balconies, loggias or terraces.
All these developments are taken into account in each of the production processes of their projects, such as NEY (Paris 18th) and its 72 dwellings divided into two volumes and linked by a common base, a day care center. This separation takes into account the overall environment of the neighborhood by allowing the other, older buildings to keep their views clear.
The floors are conceived as strata to allow the sunshine of the courtyard of the crèche and to offer a view of the sky whether one is on the first floor or the top floor.
Each terrace or loggia becomes an additional room to live in and a space of its own. The geometric assemblies of the bricks give the impression of seeing without being seen and offer the facades a delicate pattern that plays with the light.
Or Tour Batignolles (Paris 17th) and its 121 housing units taking into account the Martin Luther King park and the Parisian skies.
Divided into 3 entities, around a planted heart, divided into several individual houses, a 7-story building and a 50-meter high tower that offers an unobstructed view of the Eiffel Tower and the Sacré Coeur. The balconies are generous (12M2) and protected from vis-à-vis thanks to the “butterfly” filters arranged in a staggered pattern.
On the top floor, on the roof terrace, the Kitchen Club allows tenants to cook and share convivial moments. There is also a studio and a laundry room to share, which contribute to the well-being of the occupants.
These two examples show us a new way of rethinking housing by taking into account the inhabitants and their environment. An approach and essential values that inspire Ingrid Taillandier and her team at ITAR Architectures every day and offer their residents a new way of appropriating their homes.
*Work : Density of lives
Authors Olivier Namias Ingrid Taillandier Laura Cardin
Mélissa Burckel
ITAR ARCHITECTURES
66 rue de Turenne
75003 Paris
https://itar.fr
Ingrid Taillandier : Architect DPLG since 2000, Ingrid Taillandier has very quickly focused her attention on three activities: the practice of architecture, writing and teaching. She is a graduate of the Paris-Belleville School of Architecture and holds a master’s degree from Columbia University in New York.
Member of the Academy of Architecture Chevalier des Ordres des Arts et des Lettres Special mention for the 2017 Women Architects Award