Seminar ‘Architecture and maintenance, what we care about’

Architecture and maintenance, what we care about’
session #14

Maintaining after disaster, beyond destabilization

with Nicola Delon, Encore Heureux Architectes

As a major destabilizing force, a disaster takes various forms that reveal fragilities and vulnerabilities, but also interdependencies and potential sources of solidarity.

While “rebuilding” has long been the watchword in the aftermath of disasters experienced as exceptional events, the new climate regime and multiplication of ecological crises are disrupting this restoration mechanism. Beyond architecture’s restorative ambitions, how can continuities be established and the multiple temporalities of a world whose habitability is threatened be navigated?

For the fourteenth session, the Maintaining seminar will explore the boundaries of maintenance through a dual movement proposed by Nicola Delon, a partner and co-founder of Encore Heureux Architectes. The seminar will examine disaster through the agency’s experience in Mayotte, a territory partially devastated by Cyclone Chido in December 2024. The seminar will also address disaster as a situation architects must deal with, as demolition operations abound and the question of what to save from the remains becomes increasingly urgent.

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.

Find out more about the seminar program and objectives.