Anne Lacaton (born 2 August 1955) is a French architect and educator. She runs the architectural practice Lacaton & Vassal, with Jean-Philippe Vassal. The pair were jointly awarded the 2021

Pritzker Prize The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment which has produced consisten ...

Early life and education

She was born in Saint-Pardoux-la-Rivière on 2 August 1955. Lacaton graduated in architecture from the École nationale supérieure d'architecture et de paysage de Bordeaux and received a master's degree in urban planning from the

University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (, ) is a public research university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Talence. There are al ...

in 1984. Lacaton often visited Vassal in

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

, who worked there as an architect and town planner; they built their first joint project, a straw hut.

Architectural practice

In 1987, Lacaton formed the practice Lacaton & Vassal, with Jean-Philippe Vassal. Initially based in Bordeaux, the practice moved to Paris in 2000. Lacaton & Vassal's work focuses on reduced-cost construction. Many projects are hybrids between a contemporary building concept and more diverse techniques, upsetting building contractors' standard practices. The firm renovated the

Palais de Tokyo The Palais de Tokyo (''Tokyo Palace'') is a building dedicated to modern and contemporary art, located at 13 avenue du Président-Wilson, facing the Trocadéro, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The eastern wing of the building belongs to ...

contemporary art museum in Paris, completed in 2001. The project, a bare bones reclamation of an art deco building near the Seine, was short-listed for the EU Mies Award in 2003. In 2005, Lacaton & Vassal and architect Frédéric Druot were selected to reshape the Tour Bois le Prêtre, a 17-story housing tower on Paris' northern edge designed by architect Raymond Lopez in 1957. The team cut away most of the thick façade's panels, installing balconies and large sliding windows in their place, opening the apartments to more natural light. The units were also enlarged and opened, and the firm installed new plumbing, bathrooms, ventilation, and electric systems. The project was a runner up in the Design of the Year award from the UK's

Design Museum The Design Museum in Kensington, London, England, exhibits product, industrial, graphic, fashion, and architectural design. In 2018, the museum won the European Museum of the Year Award. The museum operates as a registered charity, and all fund ...

in 2013, coming top of the architecture category. The practice has also worked on the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture in Nantes; the art collection project FRAC Nord-Pas de Calais in Dunkirk; the Cap Ferret residential building in Cap Ferret, and the Grand Parc Bordeaux (with Frédéric Druot and Christophe Hutin). This last project was the winner of the EU Mies 2019 Award, for the best contemporary architecture in Europe. Lacaton & Vassal have worked with Frederic Druot on sustainable housing projects, reinventing old 1960s era social housing in a project called Plus. Plus is an initiative to upgrade old social housing into better living spaces. They've published literature on the project.

Academic career

Lacaton was visiting professor at the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Madrid (2007–13); EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; 2004, 2006, 2010–11 and 2017–18);

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

(2012); State University of New York at Buffalo (2013); Pavillon Neuflize OBC-Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2013–14); and

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. Lacaton was appointed as Associate Professor of Architecture & Design at

ETH Zurich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...

in 2017. Her academic teaching focuses on an ideological and socio-political approach to architecture. Lacaton's designs and constructions support human use rather than iconic display, concerned with the people involved. Her designs aim to promote user participation, such as residents in areas undergoing redevelopment. Anne Lacaton served as a jury member for The Daylight Award in 2020 and 2022.

Awards

Lacaton & Vassal

* Lauréats des Albums de la Jeune Architecture, France – 1991 * Grand Prix National d'Architecture Jeune Talent, France – 1999 * Erich Schelling Award − 2006 * Fondation Erich Schelling, Karlsruhe Award "Sustainability and Residential Innovation", City of Madrid – 2006 *

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

International Fellowship in 2009. * Grand prix national de l'architecture in 2008 * Paris, France Equerre d'Argent Award (with Frederic Druot) – 2011 * Paris Daylight & Building Components Award – 2011 * Design of the year, architecture category (with Frederic Druot) – 2013 *

Rolf Schock Prize The Rolf Schock Prizes were established and endowed by bequest of philosopher and artist Rolf Schock (1933–1986). The prizes were first awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1993 and, since 2005, are awarded every three years. It is sometimes conside ...

in the Visual Arts in 2014 * Life Time Achievement – Trienal de Arquitectura de Lisboa – 2016 * Académie de l'Architecture France – Gold Medal – 2016 * Simon Architecture Prize/ Fondation Mies Van der Rohe – The Living Places (with Frederic Druot) – 2016 *

Heinrich Tessenow Medal The Heinrich Tessenow Gold Medal (Heinrich-Tessenow-Medaille) is an architecture award established in 1963 by the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S. of Hamburg in honour of Heinrich Tessenow. It is awarded by the Heinrich-Tessenow-Gesellschaft e.V. ...

in 2016 *

Global Award for Sustainable Architecture The Global Award for Sustainable Architecture is an international architecture founded in 2006 by architect and scholar Jana Revedin. Description Each year, the award honors five architects who "contribute to a more equitable and sustainable d ...

(with Frederic Druot) in 2018 * Mies van der Rohe Award in 2019 * Großer BDA Preis (BDA Grand Prize) in 2020 for their life's work *

Pritzker Architecture Prize The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment which has produced consisten ...

in 2021 * Soane Medal in 2023 * Jane Drew Prize for Architecture 2025

References

External links

*Denis Bocquet,
More Space, More Light, More Green: A New Vision of Social Housing'. A Dialogue with Anne Lacaton
, Speech, 2014. * – video interviews, philosophy, and work retrospective. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lacaton, Anne 1955 births Living people 20th-century French architects 21st-century French architects French women architects People from Dordogne Pritzker Architecture Prize winners University of Bordeaux alumni 20th-century French women 21st-century French women Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts