Recently, I attended a conference by a renowned international architect (cf. Clément Blanchet) and I was very pleased to hear his own words:

“Tomorrow’s danger, with the arrival of AI, lies in the ability to reason with time: while AI denies all complexity necessary for the project, architects and urban planners must be able to digest information and present it in a temporal logic. This reflection time belongs to humans. Meanwhile, AI is a receptacle of information and knowledge that we must be able to process, measure, and compare. This is what allows us to reintroduce meaning into projects.”

I don’t want to talk about AI here because it’s not (yet) present in my projects, but rather about the temporal dimension within architectural thinking.

Conducting a quality renovation project takes time. Today, we hear that we must perform well everywhere, even in our own sleep (smart watches tell us so), and therefore a renovation must also be able to perform well (at the end of the process, the project receives an energy rating: A, B, C, etc.).

We know that renovations take time, and we generally think they take time because there are delays in orders, because the contractor isn’t well organized, or because the Client changes their mind. Yes, there’s a bit of all that, but there’s also the reflection time that is specific to the architect.

This time is not quantifiable, and personally, I think a lot when I swim or when I run with music (these are real moments when I can create “silence” around me). But it’s a time that is necessary for a good renovation process.

Reflection time is something we cannot ignore for the sake of performance at any cost. We risk losing the very meaning of the architectural act.

Moreover, each time is managed by a rhythm. In architecture, it’s not about finding perfection but about feeling emotions. About finding your own rhythm, your pace, your heart. In my projects, there is a lot of time for reflection and exchange. To never lose sight of meaning and soul.

This photo indicates a moment of reflection: what comes next?

Here I conclude my professional year with a moment of contemplation.

Wishing you all meaningful moments of reflection, during and beyond the festive season.