François Roche

R&Sie(n) Avatar, Venice Biennale, 2010

François Roche (Paris, 25 February 1961) is a French architect. His architectural works and protocols navigate and articulate real and /or fictional confusing narration and physical production, writing scenario and developing apparatuses to transform situations.

Biography

He studied in Chalon-sur-Saône, and afterward entered scientific preparatory school in Lyon. He left that school prior to graduating, and enrolled at the school of architecture of Versailles. He graduated from this school in 1988.

He founded an organization, 'New-Territories', with sub-names which changed several times between 1989 and now: BoyeRoche (1989); Roche (1990); Roche & François (1991); Roche, Francois, Lewis, Huber, Roubaud, Perrin (1992); Roche, DSV & Sie (1993–97); R, DSV & Sie. P (1998); R & Sie. D/B: L (1999–2001); R&Sie(n) (2001 to present),^[1][2] adding a new one, titled [eIf/bʌt/c] since 2011.

This transformation of his firm name over time serves to illustrate its hybrid character, to destabilize the figure of the architect. This re-naming can appear incongruous in a company which makes the architect as author (and his physical identity) one of the vectors of his recognition and economy. But it is precisely this dimension which he is stubborn to re-formulate, re-question.^[3]

Since its beginnings, he seeks to articulate contradictions of architecture and to widen the field. It is comparable to a landscape, a device, a singularity, is it an attractive or repulsive curiosity… made antagonism and of loss of identity, it exhibitionist or is it a process of dissimulation, autonomous or embedded… temporary or eternal… ? as many questions which nourish and underlie his production.

Today François Roche develops at the same time a structure of research “new-territories” including a production structure of architecture, via the limited liability company R&Sie (n), and a studio [eIf/bʌt/c] of contingent scenario, to develop scripts. He is Visiting Professor at Columbia-Gsapp, New York, since 2006, leading one of the "advanced studio",..^[4][5] He was also a Visiting Professor in 2009_10_11^[6] at USC-Los Angeles,in charge of robotic expertise & narration.

From 1991 to 1994, François Roche takes an active part in the newspaper Purple Prose,^[7] in so much of associated writer. A rebound of the Liberation newspaper entitled “the city died” in 1994 will come to enclose this period.

The French Institute of Architecture offers to him in 1993 the possibility of unfolding the whole of its first experiments under the title “Action, March 93” which will give an account of a score of its projects. A monographic work will be published, “The shade of the chameleon”, quickly sold out. Other monographs, like “Spoiled-Climate,^[8] Fictions Scripts,^[9] Corrupted Biotopes,^[10] Bioreboot,^[11] Ten Year After, Endlessnessless ^[12] …” since visible its posterior work made, which they are tangible, fictional or speculative.

The name R&Sie (n) is resulting from the contraction of the group, but it seems that this name refers to RSI, the event "Real, Symbolic, Imaginary"^[13] of Jacques Lacan in 1972. The pronunciation “heresy” which seems completely fortuitous, launched by Bruce Sterling via its Wired review in 2006, finishes by him (their) sticking to the skin.^[14]

This architect is associated:

• In R&Sie(n) with Stephanie Lavaux, artist, since 1993 and many very others along the time.
• In [eIf/bʌt/c] with Camille Lacadee, "institute of contingents scenario" opened in 2011, based in BKK.

François Roche is the guest editor of LOG#25, NY Critic Revue, issue released in July 2012 / title Reclaim Resi(lience)stance.^[15]

Three apparatuses

His works are organized on three sets of themes / 1° Research as Speculation, 2° Fiction as Practice, 3° Practice as Lifespan (H&N)

• 3° A fragile architecture which negotiates with the arrow of time, with the transitory one or what seems the being
• 2° An operative and fictional architecture which tries to re-scenarize the relation with a situation, with an environment (like principle of reality)
• 1° A speculative architecture which works out devices between robotics, mathematics, neurobiology and biochemistry (have a look on internet on the both exhibition-research “Ive heard about” & “an architecture of moods” / on external links)

Guest professor position

• Bartlett School, London in 2000, inviting Allison Dring as assistant
• TU, Vienna, in 2001
• ESARQ, Barcelona, in 2003-04
• ESA, Paris, in 2005
• UPenn (University of Pennsylvania) in Philadelphia in 2006
• Columbia, New-York, 2006, inviting David Benjamin ^[16]
• Columbia, New-York, 2007, inviting Marc Fornes^[17]
• Columbia, New-York, 2008, inviting Marc Fornes^[18]
• Angewangde School, Vienna in 2008, inviting Marc Fornes and Stephan Henrich ^[19]
• USC, Los Angeles, in 2009, inviting Stephan Henrich and Marc Fornes^[20]
• Columbia, New-York, 2009, inviting Marc Fornes and Mat Staudt^[21]
• Columbia, New-York, 2010, inviting Ezio Blasetti & Dave Pigram ^[22]
• USC, Los Angeles, 2010–11, with Stephan Henrich and Qi Su as "visiting professor" ^[23]
• Columbia, New-York, 2011, inviting Ezio Blasetti with Miranda Romer ^[24]
• Columbia, New-York, 2012, inviting Ezio Blasetti ^[25]
• RMIT, Melbourne, 2012, inviting Gwyll Jahn ^[26]
• Columbia, New-York, & Upenn, Philadelphia, 2013, inviting Stephan Henrich / Ezio Blasetti with Luis Felipe, Devin Jernigan ^[27]

Selection of exhibitions

• Columbia University (New York, 1999–2000), UCLA (Los Angeles, 1999–2000), “@namorphous changes”/ Through R&Sie(n)
• ICA (London, 2001), “In any way, it's already happened” / Through R&Sie(n) / Stephanie Lavaux, Jean Navarro
• Mori Art Museum (Tokyo, 2004), Frac Collection / Through R&Sie(n) / Stephanie Lavaux, Jean Navarro
• Center Pompidou (Paris, 2003), “nonstandard Architecture” / Through R&Sie(n) / Stephanie Lavaux, Jean Navarro
• MAM/Museum of Modern art (Paris, 2005), “I' ve Heard About” / Through R&Sie(n) / Stephanie Lavaux, Jean Navarro, with Benoit Durandin, Mathieu Lehanneur
• MAM/Museum of Modern art (Paris, 2006), “Terra Incognita” / Through R&Sie(n) with Pierre Huyghe
• Tate Modern (London, 2006), “Terra Incognita” / Through R&Sie(n) with Pierre Huyghe
• Barbican (London, 2009), “radical nature” / Through R&Sie(n) / Stephanie Lavaux, Kiuchi Toshikatsu
• Louisiana (Denmark, 2009), “green building” / Through R&Sie(n) / Stephanie Lavaux, Kiuchi Toshikatsu
• Le Laboratoire (Paris, 2010), “an architecture of moods” / Through R&Sie(n) / Stephanie Lavaux, Kiuchi Toshikatsu, associated to François Jouve, Stephan Henrich, with Natanel Elfassy, Winston Hampel, Marc. Fornes, Gatean Robillard
• MOMASF (Los Angeles, 2010), “Bodies and Design” / Through R&Sie(n) / Stephanie Lavaux, Kiuchi Toshikatsu
• Archilab (Orleans, 1999,2001,2003) / Through R&Sie(n) / Stephanie Lavaux, Jean Navarro
• French Pavilion of Biennial of Architecture of Venice in 1990, 1996, 2000 and 2002 (year that they refused for political reasons) / Through R&Sie(n)
• International Pavilion of Biennial of Architecture of Venice in 2000, 2004 and 2008 and 2010, both international^[28] and Austrian Pavilion ^[29]

External links

• Web site / New-Territories
• Blog / New-Territories
• _an architecture "des humeurs"_
• _I've heard about_

References