Starting out as an architect in the 1990s, I was so eager for work, and excited about the creative possibilities, that turning down a project seemed inconceivable. It was thrilling, then, at a conference a few years ago, to hear French architects Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal explain how they had done just that.
When the city of Bordeaux, in France, commissioned the duo – this year’s Pritzker Prize laureates – to redesign one of the town’s plazas, they started by observing the space closely. Their conclusion was that the Place Léon Aucoc was a vibrant community space that didn’t need changing.