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Suspense of Sense |
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by François LAPLANTINE
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The notion of métissage has not been exploited
conceptually in architecture. More often than not, it has been rejected
(for the sake of purity), while beeing mistaken for syncretism and
eclecticism. This paper proposes, based on the tension of rhythm,
a paradigm which is both far from the fusion of homogeneity and
from separation of the heterogeneity.
After having questioned both baroque and " post-modern "
architectures, this paper proposes to distinguish between two types
of métissage : architectural aestetics of the plan and the
line, and architectural aesthetics of flow. Then, it analyses some
complex forms of parataxical links which escape the model of classical
harmony. |
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Spaces of " métissage " |
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by Alexis NOUSS
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The conceptual lexicon of cultural pluralism offers
a set of rival notions which have been used indifferently and indiscriminately
: multiculturalism, interculturalism, transculturalism, hybridity,
syncretism, " métissage.". Such confusion allows
for ideological manipulations which it is important to counter by
providing precise definitions.
The paradigm of " métissage " proves to be the
best adapted to grasp contemporary social realities. It enables
the possibility of multiple claims to cultural or aesthetical belonging
and identity. It represents a third way between fusion and fragmentation,
homogeneity and heterogeneity and thus calls for the consideration
of a specific sense of space which should be contrasted with the
notions of heterotopy and third-space. |
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Inherited Practices and Recomposed Models |
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by Nathalie LANCRET
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If, since time immemorial, Bali has been the place
of circulation and confrontation among major cultural influences,
now exchanges take place withinin a specific context marked by the
integration of the Island into an Indonesia which is both multiethnic
and multi-denominational, by its opening to mass tourism and the
resulting acceleration of the process of internationalization.
These changes engendered reflection and normalization concerning
what domestic architecture is or should be. The result was the composition
of what we are calling a new architectural capital. This
concept codifies exchanges between inherited models and practices
(secular oral traditions) and new architectural and urban expressions
invented and tested elsewhere, in paticular in the West. These were
elaborated in reference to what is imagined to be the foreigner's
view of balinese society, wich is seen as a tourist consumer good. |
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The Making of a Vernacular Contemporary Architecture: the Case of
the Muslim Quarter in XI'an |
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by Jean-Paul LOUBES
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For the past ten years, the muslim quarter of la
Tour du Tambour has experienced a rapid transformation. Previously,
Chinese architecture gave expression to its identity. However, at
the end of the eighties, its architectural forms were affected by
a radical change. This can be summarized with a phrase : "from
Chinatown to the medina".
The recent opening of China has had a double effect : on the one
hand, the neighbourhood taken advantage of the arrival of more tourists;
on the other hand, Muslims, now travelling freely (authorization
of pilgrimages to Mecca, in particular), bring new architectural
images (the Arabo-Islamic vocabulary). The result is a reinforcement
of Muslim identity, with an strong impact on the urban environment.
A contemporary vernacular architecture has thus developed outside
of any official framework. Breaking partially with the Chinese building
tradition, this innovation combines respect of existing plot divisions
with adoption of a system of new signs of identity. |
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Tribulations of a Dominated Urban Model: the Vietnamese " Compartment
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by Christian PEDELAHORE de LODDIS
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This paper tries to shed light on and reconstruct
the process of transformation of the " compartment ",
a consituent element of Vietnamese urbanity. As a spatial model
of family life, this mould of the " common " Asiatic city
has been despised no only by the successive authorities but also
by professional urban planners and by " experts ".
However, through the complexity and flexibility of its organization,
the " compartment " is very representative of the complexity,
autonony and continuity of local urban dynamics. The re-evaluation
of this dominated, unrecognized and threatened model could clear
the way for its modernization, helping to thwart the destructive
logic of authoritarian planing, of separation and segregation. |
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Art Exchanges in the Colonies: Historically Charged Vietnamese Architecture |
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by Arnauld LE BRUSQ
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Colonialization brought about many situations of
artistic exchange. This paper will examine the general context and
try to shed light on the processes at work. We will then question
the concept of architectural " métissage " through
the examples of four buildings.
On the one hand, the Hotel des Messageries in Saigon and the Bishop's
palace of Hanoi are two " pioneer " buildings which correspond
to a period of colonization and demonstrate both Occidental and
Asiatic know-how. On the other hand, the Blanchard de la Brosse
museum in Saigon and the Louis Finot museum in Hanoi illustrate
the application of a theory on " Indochinese architecture ".
Lastly, these examples lead us to explore the question of the colonial
museum as a privilged place both for fostering art exchanges on
the architectural level, and for constituting of a national heritage
on the cultural level. |
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Indo-Portuguese Civil Architecture: Cross-cultural Models |
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by Helder CARITA
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The Indo-Portuguese architectural production in India
represents a complex phenomenon, with many different levels of assimilation,
of reciprocal influences and of métissage. This paper deals
with the domestic architecture of the brahamese families and cardos
converted to catholicism, deeply influenced by the housing models
of the Portuguese families settled in Goa since the sixteenth century.
The architectural production of these families gradually reached
a dominant position in comparison with that of other privileged
groups, mainly from the seventeenth century on and throughout the
nineteenth century. Within this general historical framework, the
development of civilian architecture was a process of reciprocal
aesthetical and cultural influences which lasted more than four
centuries, but which are not observable in religious or military
architecture. |
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The " Portuguese Style Dwellings " in West Africa and
in Brazil at the 17th Century |
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by Peter MARK
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Between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, the
Luso-African inhabitants of Seneganbia, also called " Portuguese
", defined themselves in part by the houses they constructed.
Variations of these " Portuguese style dwellings " were
found from the Indian Ocean to Brazil, spreading rapidly along Portuguese
commercial networks to the New World. " Portuguese style "
houses were recreated in Brazil, by immigrants of the Cape Verde
islands, and West African slaves from Senegambia.
The houses, constructed in dry clay, no longer exist. Nor are they
any detailed images of 16th or 17th century " Portuguese houses
" in West Africa, although some maps and general images do
exist. The Dutch painter Frans Post, who lived some years in Brazil
while the Dutch controlled the northeastern part of the country,
created dozens of landscapes, some of which show " Portuguese
" style houses. Post's work provides iconographic documentation
wich provides a general idea of this distinctive architectural style.
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The " In-between " Cultures and Architectures |
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by Roselyne de VILLANOVA
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What is this " in-beetween" produced by
cultural crossbreeding, the double negation of stable models, the
neither this…nor that, the hybrid, the styleless? The interaction
between two types of knowledge, scholarly and common, the minority
or the colonized and the dominant in various contexts is treated
here within the framework of reciprocity of circulation over the
long term. The space-time of the " in-between " considered
from the point of view of housing and architecture deals with fabrication,
creation, with the renewal of know-how as regards habitation, its
practices and its forms.
This analysis, based on a series of investigations, uses both present-day
" smugglers " of culture such as immigrants, and sociological
and historical studies dealing with key periods when cultures were
brought into contact through Europe a expansion, the shipping trade
and the conquest of the New World. |
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The Role of Local Historical Fiction and Local History in the Construction
of the Identity of cathar Region |
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by Marie-Carmen GARCIA
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| This article analyses the interdependence between
local historical fiction and regional territories within the programme
for local development of the Cathar region in southwest France.
The first part is consacrated to the process of constructing historical
fiction, which is the principal of legitimation behind the "
Region of the Cathars ". The second part shows how this interdependence
between history and territory was weakened by the assertion of the
identity of the Department of the Aude as " Cathar " .
Finally we show how the change in the relations of interdependence
between historical fiction and the project for territorial development
opened the way for professional historical research. In fact the
designation of an administrative area using local historical fiction
as a starting point finally produced, in this case, the recognition
of a territorial entity which is, to some extent, different from
that produced by local history. This text problematises one way
of adapting history to the political project of territorial development.
By extension we outline a process of designating a public territorial
division for administrative and political purposes. |
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Hip-Hop Dancing and Public Space |
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by Sylvia FAURE
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| With the institutionalisation of hip-hop dance in
France in the last fifteen years, activities situates in institutionalised
spaces (such as dance studios and neighbourhood centres) have largely
supplanted those of " the street ". In these paces, current
practises question the meaning and the form of hip-hop dance which
has long been associated with popular street culture. From a comparative
analysis of social and sexual uses of public spaces, this article
seeks to contribute to the sociological understanding of the methods
of training dancers. |
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The Complex Dynamics of Labour Force Migration towards " Isolated
Rural " Areas |
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by Josette DEBROUX
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| Although a statistically marginal phenomenon, labour
force migration towards " isolated rural " areas challenges
the admitted explanation of migratory flow by " spatial and
hierarchical polarisation ". Despite a large social heterogeneity,
these migrants share some common social values and an " initial
non-conformism ". Threatened by the loss of their social position,
or suffering after thwarted attempts at social advancement, these
migrants try to find, in rural areas, the means for maintaining
their original identity without losing status. Coming themselves
from mobile families, they revive a part of their heritage. |
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Pedestrians Activity in Urban Public Space : a Perceptive and Embedded
Fulfilment |
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by Rachel THOMAS
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| This paper raises the issue of accessibility in urban
public space. In examining ordinary walking situations, it counters
the main tendancy in research to focus on disabled people. This
paper shows how the accessibiliy of pedestrians relies on a perceptive
and embedded fulfilment. It introduces the idea of a " sensory
configuration " : the configuring activity of pedestrians which
consists of apprehending, associating and finally appropriating
resources delivered by the sensory environment. This activity enables
pedestrians to decode their immediate surroundings, to orient themselves
and to adjust their behaviour to others. |
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