La vie en kit (Life, assembled)
Thursday
16th May 2024 | 13:00 – 14:30 CET
Aula 201 Lingotto | Streaming on YouTube
INTRODUCTION
A steel city that makes the neighbours gossip. Lightweight Japanese-style houses, designed by their future buyers. A construction kit entrusted to students. In Brussels, Liège and Charleroi (Belgium), three architects and a handful of adventurous inhabitants are willing to make their utopia a reality : housing in kit form, affordable to all! 50 years after the realisation of their prototypes, the three now elderly architects – Kroll, Englebert and Petit – take the director on a journey of discovery through these extraordinary homes.
In the course of this joyful travel through time, a crucial question emerges: what about us, how will we live tomorrow? With this documentary, Elodie Degavre revives the spirit of an era and echoes our contemporary questions about the housing crisis. But her personal approach also leads us towards deeper questions: what is the role of the architect, and how can we inherit yesterday’s utopias? Elodie will be on hand to introduce the screening and discuss the film with the audience.
BIO
Elodie Degavre is an architect, teacher, and film director based in Brussels. She worked in several architectural offices as a project manager and collaborates with A+ Architecture in Belgium. Working now as a researcher (UCLouvain) in the field of sensitive research methods, she released a documentary film about affordable housing experiments in the 1970’s: La vie en kit (Life, assembled).
Contacts
The documentary was absolutely delightful, blending stunning visuals with captivating and very charming sound design. It was a joy to listen to the three featured architects discuss their innovative ideas. The movie beautifully explored concepts of adaptable design, with examples ranging from Meme’s creations to Patze’s steel modular houses. The emphasis on customizable, reusable, and affordable living spaces struck a chord, highlighting the importance of accessibility and the right to a suitable home. The documentary also touched on environmental concerns, reminding us of our finite resources and the need for sustainable consumption. Despite challenges like resistance to new ideas and zoning issues, the architects’ reflections on their designs over time were inspiring. As an aspiring architect preparing to apply to architecture programs, I found this film particularly relevant and motivating. I enjoyed seeing the building shots, catalogues, sketches, and workspaces.
In this lecture, a film introducing that three visionary architects—Kroll, Englebert, and Petit—once embarked on an ambitious project to revolutionize housing. They designed lightweight, Japanese-style kit houses, customizable by future occupants and built by students. Fifty years later, these now elderly architects revisit their prototypes with director Elodie Degavre in a documentary that explores these innovative homes. The film prompted reflection on modern housing challenges and the enduring relevance of past utopias. Degavre’s narrative not only revived the spirit of the era but also raises fundamental questions about the future of living spaces and the architect’s role in society. As Degavre introduced the screening and engages with the audience, the documentary encouraged us to consider: how will we live tomorrow, and what can we learn from the dreams of yesterday?
The lecture by Elodie Degavre was definitely one of the most interesting lectures in this series. Her movie was very captivating as an architect but also as a filmmaker. These two fields can absolutely overlap and create a super fruitful outcome like this. I think she made a movie not only for architects but anyone would appreciate it. Also the storyline was good, starting from herself, the steps of the construction of her house, photos and video together. Then moving to architects but capturing them and interviewing them in their environment, daily life it was so catching and was one of the things I always wondered too. Her work inspired me a lot and made me think of this way of representing my work too.
The documentary ‘’la vie en kit’ is an interesting eye-opening analysis of the current housing crises which involves many countries and cities all over the world. In the past one of the solutions to face this event was the large-scale production of prefabricated houses or modular home. I enjoyed how the production attempts to understand this phenomenon by focusing on the origin of it, looking at how previously in history this was addressed, for example during the years of post-World Wars.
It is stimulating hearing the testimony of architects, sociologists, and actual residents of these ‘kit houses’ who can highlight the day-to-day pros and cons of this housing choice. It is fundamental to understand and reflect on the social aspect of it as well, considering we are in an era that has to address more sustainable ways of building and impacting the environment.
Overall, the documentary was an entertaining and informative example of how important is for modern architecture to address and approach these issues from all existing perspectives.
“La vie en kit” (Life, Assembled) is a documentary directed and produced by Elodie Degavre that offers an in-depth look at the world of prefabricated and modular homes. The film explores in detail the complete design, production, and assembly process of these innovative homes. Through interviews with industry experts, including architects, engineers, and designers, the documentary outlines the significant benefits offered by these housing solutions, including energy efficiency, shortened construction times, and a focus on environmental sustainability.
What distinguishes ‘La vie en kit’ is its people-centered approach, manifested through the real-life stories of those living in prefabricated houses. Through these personal testimonies, the documentary highlights how these homes have improved the quality of life of the people and families involved.
The documentary, therefore, not only explores the technical and architectural aspects of prefabricated houses but also their tangible impact on people and communities. Offering a comprehensive and engaging view of a rapidly growing sector, it presents itself as an opportunity to reflect on the future of construction and the evolution of the concepts of home and community in the modern world.
The documentary, “Life, Assembled,” seamlessly blends stunning visuals with captivating sound design, creating an immersive experience for viewers. As the three featured architects discuss their innovative ideas, ranging from Meme’s adaptable creations to Patze’s steel modular houses, the film explores concepts of adaptable design with elegance. The emphasis on customizable, reusable, and affordable living spaces resonates deeply, underscoring the importance of accessibility and the fundamental right to suitable housing. Additionally, the documentary touches on environmental concerns, serving as a reminder of our finite resources and the urgent need for sustainable consumption in architectural practice. Despite challenges such as resistance to new ideas and zoning issues, the architects’ reflections on their designs over time are profoundly inspiring. For aspiring architects like myself, the film serves as both a relevant and motivating source of inspiration. The glimpses of building shots, catalogs, sketches, and workspaces offer valuable insights into the architectural process, enriching our understanding of the profession’s depth and breadth.
It is not just a film but a personal journey embarked upon by the director herself, who harbored a deep-seated desire for architecture from an early age. Growing up amidst a period of architectural revolution, characterized by the fragmentation of households and the concept of “kit living,” the documentary “La Vie en kit” reflects on the relevance of these avant-garde ideas in today’s world. It brings a breath of fresh air to an architecture field constantly evolving. The film explores the innovative perspectives of the architects featured, from Mémé’s pioneering designs to Patze’s modular steel houses, shedding light on adaptable, customizable, and affordable living spaces. It underscores the urgent need for accessible housing options while also addressing environmental concerns and the imperative of sustainable consumption. Despite encountering challenges like resistance to new concepts and zoning issues, the architects’ retrospective insights inspire and inform. As someone aspiring to join the field of architecture, I found the film not only engaging but also insightful, providing a glimpse into the creative process and collaborative ethos vital for driving architectural progress.
Elodie Degavre, an architect and a firm director, made this documentary where she is visiting architectural projects that were built back in the 1960’s-70’s and looks how they changed during those years. Those projects were part of the idea of communal livings. She is also meeting the architects who planned them and is having discussion with them. The architects emphasized throughout the documentary the need to build flexible structure that could adapt themselves to change through the time as different habitants have different needs, including a visit to the current student inhabitants’ spaces. The fact that the communal student structure remains as is “without holes” after so many years demonstrates the success of the project which is as relevant today as it was back when it was developed. The documentary also put an emphasis on the maintenance of archives of architects for ideas that could be relevant for the future
It was an interesting, thought-provoking documentary by Elodie Degavre about the life of the architects Kroll, Englebert and Petit and their projects, achievements, hopes, dreams, goals.Whether it was the choice of music or camera angles, it was a work that made the viewer think and affected them in every field. In addition to the art of cinematography, it was a great chance to study these famous and unknown projects in such a deep way. Normally, when we study an old architectural project, we can only start from plans and photographs, but thanks to this documentary, we had the opportunity to understand what these 3 architects were thinking, what influenced their decisions, the reasons for their choice of materials and whether the projects were finished as they imagined.Apart from this design approach, we had the opportunity to see the bureaucratic and social difficulties faced by architectural projects, and we had the opportunity to see the development of prefabricated construction methods from past to present and their effects on their users.
The documentary explored adaptable design concepts, showcasing examples like Meme’s creations and Patze’s steel modular houses. It emphasized the importance of making living spaces customizable, reusable, and affordable, underscoring everyone’s right to a good home. Environmental concerns were also highlighted, reminding us of our limited resources and the need for sustainable living. The film provided a comprehensive look at innovative architecture, stressing the significance of accessible and eco-friendly design.
Despite challenges such as resistance to new ideas and zoning issues, the architects’ reflections on their evolving designs were very inspiring. They demonstrated resilience and creativity in overcoming obstacles, showing how innovative architecture can address both social and environmental issues. This documentary not only presented practical solutions but also inspired hope for a future where sustainable and adaptable design becomes the norm.