RE-DEFINITION
Tue 18.01.11 19:00
Audimax
  • Stéphane Malka
    • Malka Architecture (Paris, F)

Werkbericht

It was first through graffiti, a technique he adopted for over 10 years, that Stéphane Malka discovered the city and its untapped potential. He then began studying architecture in his home town of Marseilles before completing his studies at the school of Paris-la Villette. After a stint with Jean Nouvel, he set up his studio on his own. “Before being able to share points of view, it is essential for me to be confronted with the essence of the project. This initial approach is about thought and thus informal, and for me it requires a process of maturation and solitary reflection.” Today, he makes use of two parallel but complementary practices. “The act of dressing up the city to think better about architecture”; this is how this skilled user of wordplay and other devices (as evidenced by the titles he uses for his projects), summarises the dual approach to his production(….) As a result of his graffiti period, Stéphane Malka has maintained a strong taste for ‘soft’ resistance and the neglected urban districts that he explores in his research; his subject area is Paris, his modus operandi, spontaneity. “Given the social, economic and ecological urgency, we need to parasite the city within a logic of overlays, additions and extension of the built heritage rather than in the single one of thetabula rasa.” In a continuous quest for abandoned spaces capable of “creating new urban vitality”, his incisive and unexpected interventions base themselves on the existing buildings, forming the backdrop for a new urbanity. To do this, this optimistic humanist relies on the ability of men to rise up to implement his projects. “The methodology aims to promote a popular action as an act of resistance against town-planning restrictions.” His Petit Paris is also an opportunity to question the place of the architect in the city and in contemporary society. “We must give other answers than those raised within the scope of a commission. I look at architecture as an act of social and cultural resistance.”

Maryse Quinton, curator & journalist

taken from: www.stephanemalka.com

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