Marcel LodsÉduquer à l'architecture moderne

Although the work of Marcel Lods is, for the most part, known to everyone in France and abroad – thanks to the many “manifesto” buildings of the modern movement – it must be said that a substantial part of his thinking on architecture and territorial planning remains, if not ignored, at least confidential. However, throughout his career, Marcel Lods was keen to publicly state the terms, notions, concepts and key ideas in various publications, to express and share his views, conceptions and often radical positions at conferences and in interviews with the press and media. All that remains of these words are relatively scattered written traces – although conscientiously archived -, transcriptions, notes and drafts that the architect took care to preserve, as well as comments, essays and compositions, many of which remain unfinished. This book is the first in a new series published by Athom entitled “Paroles” which, starting from transcriptions of conferences and writings by eminent creators (architects, designers, artists) – unpublished “material” if not extracted from publications that are now out of print – proposes to reconsider their meaning, to re-evaluate its scope (or aim) as well as its strong influence through studies, analyses and critical historiographic points of view carried out by authors of various disciplinary profiles and affiliations (history, philosophy, aesthetics and art sciences, anthropology, etc.). ). Seven texts produced by Marcel Lods between 1947 and 1967 have been selected for this volume: reading and writing notes in preparation for articles, a study/expertise report, essays in their working version and written transcriptions of conferences. Seven texts for which the subject matter will obviously have been adapted to the target audience, but which, when brought together in this book, clearly show the many ‘echoes’, the relationships of meaning and complementarities. The book is completed by a biography of Marcel Lods by Pieter Uyttenhove, and by interpretations of the builder’s texts by six guest authors, with different profiles and expertise, each of whom, in his or her own way, revisits certain passages, identifies and untangles some of the problematic “points” or “knots” and, in the final analysis, endeavours to put “things” back into perspective; All of this helps to demonstrate – if it were necessary – how valuable, fruitful and useful the thought of Marcel Lods still is when it comes to dealing with the essential issues and questions of architecture, from yesterday to today.