Lecture
Odile Decq
AM24
I love to take risks and I expect from all my partners to take risks
The day’s proceedings kicked off with a talk by the grande dame of contemporary architecture, the French architect Odile Decq, who electrified her audience with her energy and the unconventional buildings she has realised around the globe in 46 years of independent work. Her spaces and objects surprise on every scale, from the sensor-controlled toilet sink to the atriums and auditoriums of her museums and office buildings. ‘I always take risks, and I expect all my consultants and clients to take risks,’ she declared to the plenary session.
Lecture Odile Decq
About:
Since founding her firm in 1978, French architect Odile Decq has forged a distinctive path. Her work forms a holistic universe where architecture, design, art, and urbanism interweave, challenging and informing one another. Bold geometries and an innovative spirit characterize Decq’s creations across all these disciplines.
Notable works include the Banque Populaire de l’Ouest in Rennes, the University of Nantes, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome (MACRO), the GL Events headquarters in Lyon, Fangshan Tangshan National Geopark Museum in China, and her latest project, the Antares residential tower in Barcelona.
Decq has received numerous awards for her work, including the 2014 Silver Medal of Honour from the Académie d’Architecture, the 2016 Jane Drew Prize from The Architects Journal in London for pushing boundaries and promoting equality; Architizer’s 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award, and appointment as Commandeur de l’Ordre du Mérite in 2018.
In 2014, she founded the Confluence Institute for Innovation and Creative Strategies in Architecture with the aim of reshaping architectural education for the 21st century. Based in Paris, it earned accreditation from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 2017.