Architecture in Motion – 2019 Conference Cycle

The peripheral expansion of cities and the pressures they exert on our environment require a rethinking of our relationship with land. An essential awareness is necessary to make our cities both sustainable and livable. Proposals for urban renewal encompass restoring the balance between nature and man in the city, reusing and adapting the existing, and facilitating human interactions. These topics are at the heart of Franco-Chinese cooperation–set out in the bilateral agreement signed in 2007 and renewed in 2013. This framework allows for dozens of professional exchange visits between France and China every year. Together, experts from both sides are searching for sustainable solutions to address the global challenges of urban growth and climate change.

The launch in November 2018 of the French-Chinese Year of the Environment highlights the intensity of the relationship between our two countries on this topic, and of the special place given to the protection of biodiversity and the fight against climate change.

For several years now, the Architecture in Motion conference cycle, proposed by the Cooperation and Cultural Action Department of the French Embassy in China, offers architecture and urban planning professionals from our two countries a space for dialogue and exchange of experiences in France and China, in the field of sustainable urban development.

In 2019, the conference cycle will explore different approaches to urban renewal. The exchanges will take place throughout the year, in four cities: Beijing, Kunming, Chengdu and Guangzhou. At each stage, a presentation by a French professional will be followed by an exchange with the public, and may be completed by that of a Chinese speaker.

Dates: From March to December 2019
Venue: Institut français in Beijing and various museums and institutions accross Chinese cities
Organizers: France Embassy in China/ Institut français
Partners: Urban Environment Design magazine, Chengdu Museum, The Elephant Books, Times Museum
Programme: March – Landscape, a Game between Nature and Culture, with Florence Mercier, landscaper; May – Museums in the 21st Century, with Bernard Desmoulin, architect; July – Urban passages for a softer mobility, Marc Barani, architect; October – Manifesto for ecological and solidarity housing, with Jean Harari, architect; December – The transformation of industrial wastelands into cultural places, Matthieu Poitevin, architect
See full programme: in French; in Chinese
See useful link: https://www.faguowenhua.com/fr/event/cycle-de-conf%C3%A9rences-2019-architecture-en-mouvement