RAUM FOR MANOEUVRE

摘要

In the past, the French public sector played a prominent role in fabricating the city, with architects being able to plug into a readily available network of open competitions that provided opportunities for emerging practices. Now, however, private investment has become the norm and projects resulting from public competitions are becoming scarcer. 'We certainly don't work only on public projects', explains Julien Perraud, a third of French practice Raum. 'But to us, guaranteeing a fine balance between public and private interest in every project is a guarantee of better teamwork, creativity and social responsibility.' Based in a remodelled horse stable in Nantes, Raum was founded in 2009 by Perraud, Thomas Durand and Benjamin Bore, a trio of graduates from the city's architecture school. Operating mainly in France, as a young practice they have had to contend with situating their work within a changing social, political and professional context. Raum's very first project was a rustic shed in stained black timber for an oyster farmer in rural Brittany, structured around a workspace and temporary dwelling. Eeflecting the fluctuating, estuarine character of the site, it could be divided or opened up to accommodate different needs, while the roof served as a garden, with an alfresco bathtub.