The Ecology of the South
Working “in the South”, with the heat and the wind, and rediscovering Mediterranean bioclimatic design underpinned the studio’s work carried out in Morocco with Bernard Reichen, on Casa Anfa (2009) and then the new town of Zenata, in Casablanca, in 2012. These experiences led to our “theorizing” about an approach to the bioclimatic principles of the Southern Hemisphere, combining conceptual theories (the use of shade, air flow trees, light diffraction, evaporation) and formal systems teaching us the importance of hollows, patios, and permeability, overhangs, canopies, protections, vegetation, and materiality.
By revisiting the vernacular systems used in these regions that are a testament to “proto-ecology” and representative of an innate capacity to adapt to the environment, our studio works with the foundations of an “ecology of the South”, based on the climate-history-culture trinity. These experiences foster and anchor in the team a very strong sensitivity to the notion of environment, whether physical or human, and nurtures their design at all scales, from the smallest material to the region at large.