Bertrand Penneron: Architectures and Landscapes

“It is the sites and the users who give meaning to the place.” Bertrand Penneron

An architect in Tours, Bertrand Penneron is a former student of the École de Chaillot. He notably lived in Thailand and Reunion Island before settling in Touraine. Whether it is a winemaker's cellar, a music school or the reconstruction of a church, his work is a reflection on the creation of forms in the service of man and in relation to the landscape.

From these first projects from the early 90s to his most recent creations, this book looks back on 25 years of creation. The Bertrand Penneron agency has worked equally on sports and cultural facilities (rehabilitation of a military pavilion into a music and dance center in Poitiers, performance hall in Langeais, etc.), educational establishments (day school, agricultural high school d'Areines, Jean de la Fontaine elementary school in Tours, renovation of a middle school in Langeais, etc.), renovation projects for heritage places (the dome of the Saint-Martin basilica in Tours, transformation of an old cloister into a residence in Tours, reconstruction of the Fournier footbridge in Tours, etc.) as well as on numerous housing programs. Hugo Massire, architectural historian, describes in this widely illustrated work (including photographs, plans and drawings) the circumstances and issues linked to the creation of architecture by Bertrand Penneron, as well as their link with the environment. He analyzes each project and highlights the generosity which underlies the work of Bertrand Penneron, always present in an architecture which “helps vulnerable people to bounce back” (Libération, about the creation of 14 apartments in Tours for people in reintegration, Citizen Project Prize 2009 at the National Congress architects).

• 19.5 x 23 cm
• 200 pages
• 180 illustrations
• Hardcover
• ISBN: 978-2-91554-2820

Text in French only

HUGO MASSIRE est historien de l’art et doctorant en histoire de l’architecture contemporaine depuis 2011. Il est coauteur de Tours, métamorphoses d’une ville (à paraître, septembre 2016).