Architecture Competition Rammed Earth Pavilion 3rd prize winners - APE-X Studio

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the 3rd prize winners of our "Rammed Earth Pavilion" competition – Aubert Antoine and Fournials Thomas from France!

Aubert Antoine and Fournials Thomas from France

APE-X Studio, is a newly created architecture and design firm, based in Paris. The agency is founded by the two winners of the best diploma of the Special School of Architecture of Paris 2019, Antoine Aubert and Thomas Fournials.

Brief information about the projects that you/your company have been involved with. For instance, what scale have you focused on/preferred, any significant projects where the company/ individuals have been involved?

We believe that the quality of an architect lies in his ability to federate human resources and assemble materials within a territory, a climate, a local culture. In search of this ideal we went to Hanoi, capital of Vietnam within the Vo Trong Nghia agency, a real reference for bamboo construction in South East Asia.

Back in France, we participated in the design and construction of educational and administrative establishments but also the rehabilitation of religious monuments, renovation of apartments and construction of individual houses. Our studio is established in Paris and we work in the South of France and Normandy. We design a calibrated architecture through the prism of local craftsmen, mastering precious materials and know-how.

What does architecture mean to you and what is the role of an architect in your society?

Architecture is the theater of human stimuli, it is the greatest palimpsest work of humanity. Architecture is an art of abnegation, it is the art of preserving the past and conceiving the future.

Architecture is not a profession, it is an act or rather a series of actions allowing the symbiotic integration of human activities in their environment. Architecture belongs intrinsically to the person who uses it. The architect conceives and formalizes the spatial and technical synthesis of human needs and desires.

In fact, Architecture articulates all societies and cultures in radically different climates and territories, so it has naturally developed in a vernacular manner. It highlights traditions, knowhow but also materials and techniques which the architect, as a true catalyst, must know how to seize and reinvent.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

Designing a spontaneous architecture, strong of meaning, uses and materiality. To explore new geographical territories, to research about construction systems and materials that we do not encounter in our projects. Discover and connect with cultures, different peoples, maintain way of thinking and know-how.

What advice would you give to individuals who struggle to decide whether it would be beneficial for them to participate in architecture competitions?

No matter the result your project and your work go beyond architecture jury.