" 2 rooms " is based on an idea for housing, within the Grand Paris of the 21st Century, to house all ages and all socio-professional categories.
PROJECT PRESENTATION
One-bedroom homes represent almost one third (31.8%) of housing units in Paris. They can accommodate many living situations, including that of couples, young retirees, single people, single-parent families, first-time buyers, roommates, students, freelance or commuter workers, and so on. Their layouts, surfaces, and amenities don’t match the diversity of uses of those who live in them, however.
Based on this two-fold observation, Susanne Eliasson and Anthony Jammes, the founders of the GRAU agency, question this typology in light of contemporary issues. Using simple vocabulary and line drawings, their study, conducted within the FAIRE research platform, draws from the analysis of the new and old housing stock of Paris. It is also based on various interviews conducted with public and private project owners.
In order for these dwellings to offer the domestic qualities of large apartments, the architects re-examined their surface area, their optimum shape (considering property prices), and the needs of future residents. They look for ways of optimizing the apartments to make them more open and more flexible, and explore the possibilities revealed by externalizing certain constraints. Their proposals open up new perspectives and use scenarios to demonstrate the potential one-room apartments have in accommodating a variety of lifestyles, as well as the reason why they need to evolve.
For Susanne Eliasson and Anthony Jammes, this study “isn’t a celebration of one-bedroom homes as a small surface, but rather a celebration of the city. In the context of a health crisis, and more broadly, a climate crisis, we will need to find ways of living together in the near future. We believe the answer lies in the city and all the opportunities it offers to people of all ages. One-bedroom apartments can offer ways of life that is more open, while promoting more flexibility and interior freedom, as well as opportunities for encounters and social bonding in common spaces.”
One-bedroom homes represent almost one third (31.8%) of housing units in Paris. They can accommodate many living situations, including that of couples, young retirees, single people, single-parent families, first-time buyers, roommates, students, freelance or commuter workers, and so on. Their layouts, surfaces, and amenities don’t match the diversity of uses of those who live in them, however.
Based on this two-fold observation, Susanne Eliasson and Anthony Jammes, the founders of the GRAU agency, question this typology in light of contemporary issues. Using simple vocabulary and line drawings, their study, conducted within the FAIRE research platform, draws from the analysis of the new and old housing stock of Paris. It is also based on various interviews conducted with public and private project owners.
In order for these dwellings to offer the domestic qualities of large apartments, the architects re-examined their surface area, their optimum shape (considering property prices), and the needs of future residents. They look for ways of optimizing the apartments to make them more open and more flexible, and explore the possibilities revealed by externalizing certain constraints. Their proposals open up new perspectives and use scenarios to demonstrate the potential one-room apartments have in accommodating a variety of lifestyles, as well as the reason why they need to evolve.
For Susanne Eliasson and Anthony Jammes, this study “isn’t a celebration of one-bedroom homes as a small surface, but rather a celebration of the city. In the context of a health crisis, and more broadly, a climate crisis, we will need to find ways of living together in the near future. We believe the answer lies in the city and all the opportunities it offers to people of all ages. One-bedroom apartments can offer ways of life that is more open, while promoting more flexibility and interior freedom, as well as opportunities for encounters and social bonding in common spaces.”
PROJECT PARTICIPANTS
GRAU, Susanne Eliasson & Anthony Jammes
GRAU, Susanne Eliasson & Anthony Jammes
Founded in Paris in 2010, GRAU is an architecture and urban planning practice headed by Susanne Eliasson and Anthony Jammes, architects and urban planners with more than ten years of experience in architectural and urban projects in France and Europe.
The studio has developed expertise on housing issues through numerous urban renewal projects, strategic studies on urban consolidation, new district and residential projects, and ongoing research into horizontal urban systems.
