Seminar ‘Maintaining. Architecture and maintenance, what we care about’

Seminar ‘Maintaining. Architecture and maintenance, what we care about’
session #10

What vegetation does to buildings

with Antoine Guibourgé, Commercial Director, Exceptional Gardens, Mugo

From design to completion, architectural practice is an exercise in mastering and compromise. Navigating the intricacies of rules and constraints, planning and anticipating (ageing, vulnerabilities, risks), and exercising control over every detail, all demand attention and expertise directed towards the production of an object that conforms to the blueprint and is built to last.

These ‘thorny negotiations’ (Latour, Yaneva, 2008) become particularly salient when buildings are combined with a plant substrate. While greening increasingly seems to be an essential means of adapting architecture to the new climate regime, it poses challenges for buildings at every stage, from design to maintenance, by introducing a living element that has long been excluded from the project.

This session explores the changes brought about by this tension: what place are we willing to give to plants and the various forms of interdependence they reveal? How can we agree on what to maintain, what to let happen and what to make last? 

Date: Friday February 6, 2026, 10 am –1 pm

Venue: Agence SCAU, 35 rue Tournefort, 75005 Paris

Participation is free but registration is required. Please register here.

Attendance is limited. Kindly let us know if you are unable to attend.

The seminar will be held in French.

Organized by architectural agency SCAU and Jérôme Denis.
Find out more about the seminar program and objectives