ABOUT
Create refined and enchanting spaces.
Transforming every project into a work of art combining elegance and functionality.
AVERTISSEMENT
Pour égayer ces textes, un peu long, je vous propose de regarder mes dessins réalisés sur des nappes de la Pizzeria GIGI à Golfe-Juan où je me suis éclaté avec mes filles et mes amis. Ça peut permettre de mieux me comprendre. Et de réaliser une lecture plus agréable.
MY STORY
Son of a craftsman, from a very large family, I began my studies at the Lycée Victor Hugo in Besançon where I followed the mathematics section up to MATHS SUPS. I then decided to stop to undertake the architectural training more in line with my expectations and my sensibilities.
I first spent a year at the École des Beaux Arts on Quai Malaquais in Paris, a school that trains DPLG architects. I left it because it was unsuited to modernity and took and passed the entrance exam for the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland), Architecture Department.
I worked in Switzerland during my student holidays and in Berlin for a year before graduation as part of a mandatory internship. After graduating, I returned to work in the Architecture office that had hosted me during the holidays for four years of my studies. I worked there in the new Urban Planning department, which I left due to disagreements with the partner of the original boss with whom I had become friends.
I was recruited by the Swiss Federal Institute for Research on the Built Environment (IREC), which is part of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne.
I worked alone on two research programs, the first of which earned me congratulations from the Swiss Federal Council, and the second, requested by GATT, congratulations from the head of the Institute.
I resigned because I wanted to return home and live in the sunny Côte d'Azur, where the job prospects were great and interesting.
I chose Vallauris because of the presence of many creators and artists, and in particular the passage of Picasso...
I opened my small architect's office there, having decided to make my name and reputation there.
MY CAREER AS A FREE AND INDEPENDENT ARCHITECT
I quickly applied to the High Court of Grasse for a role as a court expert. The President accepted my application, and I became one of the youngest court experts in France.
I learned my trade on a practical level and became aware of the consequences of errors and the responsibilities of Architects.
This activity introduced me to the major figures in the construction sector in the Alpes Maritimes.
I worked on large building permit files but I decided to focus on the construction of private individual villas.
MY CHOICES
For me, the house and its exterior extensions are living spaces built which imply knowledge of the technique, respect for materials, absolute consideration of the environment in which they will be confronted and finally taking into account the expectations of its future occupants.
There is therefore a requirement for a rational approach with the application of knowledge of the building and subjective irrational knowledge to take into account the future occupants and the environment of this future house.
The house is a living space that introduces the concept of space, spaces, and their relationships in accordance with the perception and particular appropriation of its future occupants.
These spaces must take into account those who will inhabit them and who are always different. Listening and understanding, the evaluation of the particularity of the people who will occupy these spaces constituting the house, allows to give to this one, to its constituting spaces and their relations, a particular identity which means that no house built according to this approach can be identical.
The house is always built on a particular plot of land, the particularities of which must be identified, which will contribute to its construction and its uniqueness.
This particularly concerns the surface area of the land, its topography, the surrounding area. It also concerns the view(s) from it or a location on it.
Finally, it is about its location in relation to sunrise, midday and sunset on the chosen land or part of it.
Based on these fundamental considerations, it will be necessary to choose the locations where the house will be able to have the maximum view, light, and sunshine throughout the day. The applicant will explain in a rational and subjective manner as far as possible his expectations, the composition of the sectors of the house, bedrooms, living areas, basement, etc.
All these elements constitute the framework of the creation aimed at this house.
It is about creating a place to live, where everyone will have their place in the interior and exterior environments, in the light and the solar course and in the respect and freedom of each person, favorable meeting places and places of retreat.
METHOD
I quickly became aware of the role of the Architect, creator of built or exterior spaces, close to, intended for humans, to manage the latter's unconscious to satisfy the subtle expectations of which he is not aware.
My role in each mission for different people is to understand and integrate the sometimes contradictory information brought to my knowledge by visiting the places, the various documents concerning them and the audit of the one or those who will be the users (residents).
My method implements a rational approach but also a second irrational one without forgetting the first.
It is the interest and the ability to go beyond without getting lost, always respecting the essential.
It is the Outline that very quickly establishes a rational solution and an irrational integration of all the data, even contradictory ones. It is followed by a period of adaptation, fine-tuning, and resumption of forgotten data.
If this outline is not complete and complex, if all the obligations and compromises are not taken into account, then the project will only end up as a banal one. The outline must be well-conceived. The project will only clarify it. Otherwise, it is necessary to detach oneself and start again later, the initial outline must be forgotten.
All design following the Outline verifies and integrates forgotten elements until the Preliminary Design achieves the best integration of all this data.
The design also verifies compliance with current urban planning regulations.
The development of the Project for execution is the production of a precise technical file which respects the materials, the execution techniques, the applicable standards, gravity, expansions, wind and water whether aerial or underground.
Everything must be perfect and able to stand the test of time. It's not always easy, but it must remain an unwavering will.
EMERGENCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN ARCHITECTURE
Very quickly, there emerged a desire to do what is expected but to do it outside of repetitive fashions, in a particular way with a particular architectural language corresponding to a personal feeling.
My mathematical training and my penchant for sculpture and drawing led me to search for the simplicity of volumes, their purity, refusing their additions.
Rationality and my sensitivity have always favored simple volume, an object placed in nature and respecting its forms and what composes it.
I quickly chose the unique volume and the 4-sided pyramid-style roof made up of a glued laminated timber frame covered with aged tiles.
The choice of shape reflects the uniqueness of the volume, using materials reminiscent of the Mediterranean. It is a modern take on these ancient materials.
This modern style is accentuated by the widespread use of circular concrete or steel posts with a variety of capitals crowning them and supporting the framework. Everything expresses poetic modernity.
In each project, new works were created or were taken from past projects.
The search for the new, the original, integrating natural fundamentals has led each villa to an identity where rigor and poetry reign.
I began and continued in this spirit at the age of 30 and have built up a body of work whose 14 selected examples partly demonstrate the quality of the research and the beauty of the results.
This is the accomplishment of the exercise of my poetic mathematics.
It is a work created gradually with the constant search for the new, in rationality and emotion.
This work is produced with the constant desire to do better.
This work was also possible thanks to the collaboration of my team, with whom the relationships were characterized by well-being and excellence. I thank them. Without them, it would be difficult to manage these creations. It is a great pleasure to work and create in these conditions.
Hoping to have pleasantly surprised you
and perhaps for some interested in a
shared path to build your homes.
D.TISSERAND