Research on "raw water" (rainwater, groundwater, lakes, rivers, etc.) to reveal these invisible waters and consider them as a tool for adapting to climate change.
PROJECT PRESENTATION
The city of Paris is faced with a growing scarcity of water resources, and an increasing number of heatwaves and intense, brief and irregular rainfall events, revealing Paris's inability to be resilient. Raw water is found in the environment, untreated and full of minerals, ions, particles, bacteria and parasites. Rainwater, groundwater, water from infiltration wells and reservoirs such as lakes and rivers are all raw water. This resource can become a real common good for the people of Paris. Developing research on raw water means considering it as an adaptation tool present in various forms in the city and its territory. It is visible on many scales: the Seine, rain, rivers, canals, roofs, gutters, gargoyles, gutters, manholes, mouths, ledges, reservoirs, basins... It is very often invisible and imperceptible, as contained in biomass, or beneath the city's surface, in water tables, sewers, pipes, networks, factories and catacombs. We propose, on the one hand, to reveal the ingenuity of existing systems and, on the other, to enable the user to interact with raw water through transcalary and low-tech architectural and landscape solutions. We believe that green, grey, brown and blue water are under-utilized potentials to be enhanced, amplified and shared. Among other things, this enhancement will increase biodiversity and urban freshness, while saving drinking water and imagining new uses to make this resource accessible to residents.
PROJECT LEADERS
At the crossroads of architecture, landscape, urban planning and art, our joint work revolves around the notion of transversality between practical and theoretical knowledge, and the multiplication of scales of reflection.
Camille Lot is an architect and artist based in Paris. A graduate of the École d'architecture de la ville & des territoires Paris-Est (ENSAVT) in 2017 and the École d'architecture Paris-Malaquais (ENSAPM) in 2023, he has collaborated with several architectural firms in Paris, Brussels and Marseille, and with a research studio in London in partnership with the Architectural Association (AA). He works as a freelance architect, is associated as an artist with several musical and audiovisual projects, and teaches as a research assistant in the Architecture & Experience master's program at ENSAVT.
Julie Maillard is an architect, urban planner and landscape designer. A 2018 graduate of the École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Clermont-Ferrand, she is continuing her training at the DSA d'architecte-urbaniste and her HMO at the École d'architecture de la ville & des territoires Paris-Est (ENSAVT). She wins Europan 16 in Namur, Belgium, and Europan 17 in Belle-Île-en-Mer, France, while working in agencies combining architecture, urban planning and landscape design in Paris. In 2023, she will defend her diploma in landscape design at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Paysage de Versailles, focusing on the climatic risk of drought. She teaches the Master 1 EVAN project and undergraduate cartography at ENSACF.
Pauline Soulenq is an architect, graduating from the École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Clermont-Ferrand in 2018. She also completed the DSA architecte-urbaniste course at the École d'architecture de la ville & des territoires Paris-Est (ENSAVT), enabling her to deepen this multidisciplinary education while confronting the challenges of real commissions. Since 2020, she has been working in parallel with a Paris-based agency on architectural projects of various scales, and on her own projects in rural areas. She teaches architectural design and representation in the undergraduate program at ENSAVT.
