Photo by Roland Halbe.Odile Decq is proof of two great truisms—that architects don’t hit their stride until later in life and that no one is a prophet in their homeland no one would say that the Paris-based Decq It’s not so much the superficial things like her distinct Goth-punk personal style (dark lipstick which responds hypersensitively to sites and never seems to punch the easy ticket by doing what is to be expected Her carpet for the Renwick Gallery of Art in Washington fire-engine red carpet seems to spill down the museum’s grand staircase integrated into the landscape—not only something square “More and more I feel that we should give people the possibility to forget the difficulties of their life It was no surprise when she won the 2016 Jane Drew Prize that she was cited not only as an advocate of equality but as a “spirited breaker of rules.” and to fight everything and everybody,” Decq says matter-of-factly With her star shining brighter than ever in the last decade the visibility of Studio Odile Decq has dramatically increased Not to mention the esteem of her contemporaries “I very much admire her work,” says Thom Mayne She’s interested in the visual power of the thing she’s making.” Mayne and Decq have been following each other’s designs for years “Consistent to all of her work is a certain level of drama and the strength that comes out of that,” Mayne added noting that she was able to achieve “elegant” results just the same Though piazzas are found across Rome, the Macro neighborhood happens to lack one. To make up for this, the terrace on top of the museum surrounds a skylight that looks down into the building, giving the neighborhood the feeling of a public square,“with a fountain in the center, surrounded with cafés and bars,” as Decq describes it. Nanjing, China—which happens to be a burgeoning starchitect hub—is home to another ingenious Decq interpretation of a site, for the Fangshan Tangshan National Geopark Museum, completed in 2015. The archeological institution has a sinuous perimeter that appears to rise up from the ground just in front of a mountain. It is a design inspired by the nearby caves where historic Homo erectus finds were made. “I visited the cave where they excavated an early Nanjing man, and I was very moved,” says Decq. “So we used the contour lines of the site, playing with them, and that generated the model. It’s part of the landscape of the mountains.” (This year she hopes will also see the completion of another Nanjing project, a house in the park adjacent to the Sifang Art Museum.) The fact that those projects, which gave her enormous freedom, occurred outside France is not lost on Decq. International recognition came before recognition in her homeland. “For many years I didn’t have any work in France,” she says. “But for the last three or four years, people are coming to me, as they have heard about my work—especially for offices. They want to have something that is different, instead of something anonymous.” She adds, with a burst of emotion, “Finally! It was a long time to be appreciated.” One of those office projects is Cargo, a Parisian start-up hub that Decq completed in 2015. Inside, the building is a series of flexible, customizable spaces that encourages human interaction. Outside, the fenestration reads as a series of floating circles—“bubbles for creativity.” Her own boundless creativity came to the fore in another Paris project, inside a legendary 19th-century opera house, the Palais Garnier. Decq was commissioned to design a restaurant inside, but because of the historic nature of the landmark, could barely touch any of the building to do it. Essentially she built a structure within the older one, cosseted by undulating glass panels held together with almost invisible steel rods and defined by winding, eye-popping red banquettes. Her firm calls the restaurant “insidious” and seemingly created “by magic”—not the usual way of talking about such projects. “I’m not someone you think of for historical monuments, but I’m happy it was Garnier,” Decq says, referring to the original architect, Charles Garnier (1825–98). “He was an iconoclast. He was young and he did a building that was rejected by the academy and other architects—it was not in the norm, the standard. I liked that. It felt comfortable to go into his shoes.” Decq projects don’t necessarily resemble each other. Unlike her red carpet within the Renwick Gallery, there’s a distinct lack of curves in a home and studio in Seyssins, France, the Residence Saint-Ange. The dark structure is made of timber over poured concrete, and a vertical monolith for living-in stands astride a horizontal studio volume, which is built into a hillside. A variety of window shapes take in striking views of the Alps. What’s next up for Decq? A tall apartment tower in Barcelona. It’s something of an exception since she feels that, in general, residential work constrains her: “The only freedom you have as an architect is in the facade.” But she takes on such projects because she simply enjoys the challenge, and she likes the chance to surprise everyone—including herself. Now that she is hitting her stride, Decq is game for anything that is an adventure. “I don’t have preconceived ideas about what I will do,” she says. “My process is much more intuitive.” Sign up to our newsletter for the latest arts and culture updates Dr Ernest Yeboah ACHEAMPONG is a lecturer in the Department of Health Recreation and Sports (HPERS) at the University of Education Winneba and an Associate Researcher in the Laboratory of Sport and Social Environment at Université Grenoble Alpes He is a product of the FIFA Master equipped with unique and innovative managerial skills across the sports industry with a research interest in African football sport for development and giving back phenomenon He is a former semi-professional footballer from Ghana and a holder of CAF License B Coaching diploma and FIFA Grassroots Coach Educator Coaching experiences in Ghana at Lizzy Sports Complex Ernest has an MBA in Human Resource Management and played a critical role in helping the Professional Footballers Association of Ghana to achieve a candidate status as the first General coordinator/Administrative manager He is a reviewer for some scientific journals He is also a member of several scientific societies (EASS Community Safety Department Director To Resign Amid Tension With Cambridge Police Department From Lab to Startup: Harvard’s Office of Technology Development Paves the Way for Research Commercialization People’s Forum on Graduation Readiness Held After Vote to Eliminate MCAS 8 Takeaways From Harvard’s Task Force Reports My girlfriend and I have a shared Spotify playlist which I listen to whenever I miss her which is all the time because she lives in Seyssins and our lives only physically intersect when we return to our high school home of Saratoga during the few weeks that our school breaks sync up The first thing people usually ask me once they find out about my relationship is “How did you meet?” (The key word here is usually; my Computer Science professor last semester asked me how it felt to check “hot French girlfriend” off my bucket list.) The second question people end up asking is “How does that work?” Communication is stunted when you’re not face-to-face They won’t be there for you when you need them the most How can you trust someone you can’t even see most hours of the day I have internalized all these criticisms and more My girlfriend and I danced around the “should-we-shouldn’t-we” question of dating for the entirety of last summer before we finally got together I have three different anniversaries in my calendar labeled with increasing amounts of “okay Picked at every thread until our fingernails bled against all the staggering reasons why long distance doesn’t work compiled by seemingly every reasonable person in existence you love someone so much that whatever responsibilities you have or whatever circumstances you’re in that are pulling you apart — that all fades into the background “I would be a fool to give this up.” Maybe the world is stacked against you If your heart either breaks now as you exit each other’s lives forever as missed opportunities and premature goodbyes or later when you’ve done everything you could have to make it work We twisted and backtracked and talked in circles for something so easy it was almost anticlimactic in the end Maybe love isn’t stable or sustainable enough to build a relationship on If it hasn’t been made strikingly obvious yet I am a hopeless romantic without much to back it up with I am writing a series of love letters for the days leading up to Valentine’s Day in one of the saddest I am in a long-term long-distance relationship but I believe in love over everything threatening to pull it apart I’m not the only one left yearning and clinging to tentative threads of love recently The Covid-19 pandemic has separated so many people from their loves turning relationships that were once so close Harvard students who spent every day three semesters ago eating and sleeping and psetting within 20 feet of each other are now scattered across the globe As I add six hours to my clock to send my girlfriend a good morning text late at night Harvard students are converting their time zones to Eastern Standard Time to attend class in the middle of the night As I FaceTime my girlfriend and wish I could be seeing her face in person instead of over our temperamental Internet where the frames keep dropping even as 3,684 miles and an entire ocean stretch between us In an ironic repeat of last summer (when we got together) I am waiting with bated breath for summer break again when my girlfriend and I will spot each other from across the park and run into each other’s arms Have a suggestion, question, or concern for The Crimson Editorial Board? 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The remarkable rise of France's Louis Bielle-Biarrey - from senior debut in January 2022 to World Cup squad member in August 2023 France's Louis Bielle-Biarrey in full flight against Fiji (Photo by Sandra Ruhaut/Icon Sport via Getty Images) Louis Bielle-Biarrey should have gone to the 2023 World Rugby U20 Championship with France in July But France head coach Fabien Galthie insisted he – and fellow age-grade prodigy Emilien Gailleton – should train with the senior men’s squad for the Rugby World Cup after just three senior international appearances who has gone from senior debut to World Cup squad member in 18 months Related: France Rugby World Cup squad 2023 Download the digital edition of Rugby World straight to your tablet or subscribe to the print edition to get the magazine delivered to your door so who better to front a new look than England’s man… 2016Save this storySaveSave this storySaveAs one commenter on popular design site Dezeen put it: “What is this fetish with black or burned-timber structures?” It’s true: There’s been a burgeoning interest in the architecture world for this singular aesthetic in every case highlighting the simple geometries of these inky structures In our search for some of the best examples of buildings en noir we uncovered gems like Rodic Davidson Architects’ dramatic take on a shore house in the seaside county of Kent The firm played with the region’s vernacular using blackened timber reminiscent of the bitumen-stained siding of traditional Dungeness fishing huts Or there’s Odile Decq’s looming Saint-Ange residence in Seyssins a monolith that seemingly erupts from a hillside in country’s Grenoble wine region And those are just a few: Read on to see more of the bewitching buildings pushing the boundaries of this all-black trend EnglandRodic Davidson ArchitectsCompleted earlier this year Rodic Davidson Architects’ North Vat House makes a bold statement against the sandy coastline of England’s Dungeness beach The London-based firm took inspiration from local fishing huts using sleek glass passageways to connect three simple black-stained gabled structures CaliforniaMork-UlnesPulling inspiration from its home bases in Oslo and northern California Mork-Ulnes offers a dramatic take on the classic ski chalet in Troll Hus With tar-coated timber exteriors and a concrete base the Lake Tahoe home is a Brutalist-Alpine love child NorwaySaunders ArchitectureNorway-based Saunders Architecture created the snaking structure that is Villa S in the country’s coastal region of Flatanger Home to none other than firm principal Todd Saunders each geometry distinguishing a different area of use MontrealArchitecture Open FormA historic Montreal home received a dramatic face-lift from Maxime Moreau of MXMA who restored the building’s original wood exterior and then stained it black The result is a standout on an otherwise traditional block in the city’s Plateau-Mont-Royal neighborhood NorwayVardehaugenCreating a haunting juxtaposition against Norway’s snowy landscape the architects at Oslo-based Vardehaugen studio used simple the Lillehammer residence adapts to become a ramp for winter sports when it snows North CarolinaIn Situ StudioA trend on this list seems to be black houses in the middle of forests and In Situ Studio’s Corbett Residence is no exception the North Carolina home is a long box whose shape recalls the work of modern greats like Philip Johnson and Mies van der Rohe VancouverLeckie StudioLeckie Studio employed the traditional Japanese practice of shou sugi ban by burning the wood siding on its Wallace Street House preserving the exterior material and protecting it from potential mold and pest harm Also unique about this Vancouver residence is its passive energy status meaning that it requires a marginal amount of energy for heating and cooling the Saint-Ange Residency has been welcoming artists in Seyssins an exhibition is being organized from October 15 to 24 to present the history of the Residency and highlight nine artists who have benefited from this support program The Saint-Ange Residency was born on the initiative of Colette Tornier This former health professional gave her career a 180° turn when she became passionate about contemporary art A collector but above all a lover of encounters Colette Tournier mixes art with conviviality and likes to rub shoulders with artists In 2011 she embarked on a philanthropic adventure by creating the Saint-Ange Endowment Fund and entrusted Odile Dec with the creation of a sumptuous building ten lucky artists have been able to stay here for a few months and benefit from the “Saint-Ange grant” artists and art professionals selects each year the artists to be hosted in residence The Saint-Ange grant is reserved for contemporary artists who have studied in France and are between 25 and 45 years old Its beneficiaries stay three months at the Residence (from February to April and from September to November) where a 100 m² studio and a 60 m² apartment are at their disposal They also receive an allowance of €1,000 per month the production of a catalog of the works created during their stay and an exhibition in a local art center On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the Saint-Ange Residency Colette Tornier wished to bring together the nine laureates an exhibition presented at 24Beaubourg will bring together some thirty works as well as one work produced during their residency Each of the 9 residents will also propose a limited edition work in the form of a lithograph a sculpture or a multiple for the occasion The exhibition will also retrace the history of the Saint-Ange Residency and the impact of this private initiative on the artists’ careers Location:24Beaubourg24 rue Beaubourg75003 ParisFrance Website:http://residencesaintange.com/ Article proposed in collaboration with the Saint-Ange Residency Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 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