Emmanuel Macron has affirmed that rehabilitation must become the guiding principle in urban development. He delivered this message in a speech on March 4 at the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine in Paris, in support of the "Quartier de Demain" ("Tomorrow's Neighborhood") initiative, with the list of finalists revealed that same day.
Although its environmental impact has been largely offset by a series of contradictory measures since the beginning of winter – such as undoing the zero net land take policy and budget cuts for the environmental transition – it has highlighted the role of architecture in the rehabilitation of old buildings.
While this sector now represents a growing share of construction activity, architects remain largely sidelined. Thermal renovations, increasingly common to improve energy performance diagnostics, are often implemented by construction companies that pre-select certified materials from catalogs, aiming to minimize costs.
This results in the homogenization of urban landscapes (same façade materials, same windows, same doors), which means a degradation of everyday heritage without any guarantees of improved housing comfort or material quality.
Seeking 'consonance' between old and new
The role of the architect is, on the contrary, to work delicately with everything that exists: the building's orientation, the natural air circulation depending on whether the rooms are cross-ventilated, the local climate, the availability of locally sourced materials and the aesthetics of the urban fabric. The architect's contribution can improve both winter and summer comfort, reduce materials and carbon emissions and ensure more harmonious integration with the surrounding environment. It is also an opportunity for a global improvement in usability.
A textbook case is the 2002 transformation of the Bois-le-Prêtre tower in Paris by the Lacaton et Vassal agency (Pritzker Prize winners in 2021), which expanded the housing units by adding luminous winter gardens while enhancing the façade. Initiated by the social housing agency Paris Habitat, the project paved the way for a series of renovations that, while motivated by technical considerations, managed to update outdated buildings to fit contemporary tastes.
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