Assemble, BC Architects & Studies, BC Materials and Atelier LUMA
Assemble, BC and Atelier Luma combine expertise in building design with an understanding of material production and construction processes that push back against the separation of disciplinary knowledge that has characterised modern design practice. Assemble were founded in London, UK in 2010 to realise a single self-built project. They design buildings as well as set up organisations run businesses that among other things provide affordable space for cultural and industrial production in the city, support diverse forms of play through free-to-access provision and create public access to tools and knowledge that enable people to make things. Together their projects and enterprises aim to make the built environment and how it is used more varied, accessible, equitable and rich. BC is BC architects & studies & materials and are a Belgian design, research and education laboratory that make building projects and develop materials that together investigate the construction and production processes that shape the built environment, often through practical, hands-on projects, material prototyping and product development. BC materials specialise in recovering excavation earth from construction sites to create new, low impact building materials which, combined with academic and practical research into applications for earth in construction are leading a transformation in how the material is used in the construction industry. Atelier LUMA is a design and research laboratory based in Arles, France. Part of LUMA Arles, an arts foundation that supports a wide range of artistic projects and programmes, Atelier LUMA focuses on design and innovation within the Arles-Camargue bioregion, working with local and international collaborators to create projects that emphasize sustainability, local materials, and the application of existing forms of cultural knowledge within contemporary design approaches. The work of the Atelier involves diverse expertise drawn from various fields, and their projects range from research to actual construction.
How we make buildings impacts both how we understand them and how we understand our relationship with all the networks, labour and landscapes on which they depend. No building is an island, independent of the contexts within which it was made. For Gwangju Folly, we are making extensive use of locally available materials and resources, working with local partners in research and industry to develop new kinds of material that are using regionally-specific and reclaimed materials and low energy processes of production to renovate an existing building in the city.
Lot 8 is a building renovation in Arles, France that began in 2018 and completed in 2023. A collaboration between Assemble, Atelier Luma and BC, the building is the new home of Atelier Luma, housing research, production and working spaces that are integrated with spaces that bring the public into an environment where the work of the Atelier can be understood. The project approach developed and designed through an iterative process of design development and prototyping - harvesting and processing materials and the production of initial tests, remaking and retesting to refine and resolve the ways in which local materials from the surrounding landscapes could be incorporated into the project as building materials, components and systems. The project’s materials and technology are specific to its particular cultural and environmental context, but the principles and methodologies are highly transferable, demonstrating the potential for a process-led design approach anchored in a deep understanding of locally available resources to support a transition towards ways of building which are more reciprocal, interconnected and resourceful.
Assemble Atelier LUMA Daniel Bell, Henna Burney, Sandra Revuelta Albero, Tiago Almeida BC Marilys Tran + Yohann Hubert + Ken De Cooman + Laurens Bekemans