Stephane Malka at La Cité de L’Architecture et du Patrimoine

Recent recipient of an AJAP prize – a French distinction by the Cultural Ministry to promote young architects – Stephane Malka’s ambitious designs will be exhibited in La Cité de L’Architecture et du Patrimoine until September 5th. Malka has completed this design in an effort to unite the forsaken, the marginalised, refugees, demonstrators, dissenters, hippies, utopians, and the stateless of all kinds. He describes this conceptual design as ‘a colonisation of neglected public spaces by the participation of a non-specialised labour collective that elaborates on prefabricated and hijacked construction systems arguing ‘my methodology seeks to promote public participation as an act of resistance against urban restrictions.

“Inspired by the New York block parties, this study imagines the hijacking of a building that is symbolic for its monumentality and its location: The Grande Arche De La Défense. The Grande Arche De La Défense is an arch in the axis of the Arc de Triomphe on Les Champs Elysées. Motivated by the desire to create a new social scenario, the PAR system is a modular complex providing an alternative to the defiant lifestyle, by positioning itself in a permanent state of insurrection. Its growth is articulated by the vitality of its spontaneous community. A pocket of active resistance created by welcoming the discontented, this act of guerrilla architecture sets out to hijack the ‘Great arch of fraternity’.”