Conference de Philippe Madec

On October 26, 2023, the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) hosted a conference with the architect Philippe Madec.

Moderated by Josianne Poirier, Artistic Director of the Foundation, the lecture took the form of a discussion with Georges Adamcyck, architect and professor at Université Laval's School of Architecture, and Albert Ferré of the CCA (Associate Director, Publications). Philippe Madec is a French architect and urban planner, working on all scales of human settlement, from very large territories to buildings, from metropolises to towns, in France and abroad. His conference Pour une architecture frugale, heureuse et créative – inspired by his latest book Mieux avec moins: Architecture et Frugalité pour la Paix – is at the crossroads of the environment, politics and possible solutions for a better future.   

How can we think buildings and the ecological footprint they leave on living things, in light of climate change and the depletion of raw materials? While solutions do exist, such as "passive" housing (which consumes less than 15 kWh/m2/year), they are little encouraged. In France, the equivalent of 3,400 kilograms of waste per inhabitant is produced every year, i.e. 70% of the total.  

Faced with these disasters, ecologists have been proposing – for over a century – analyses, alternative solutions and other ways of making and thinking about "human settlements" that repair the Earth and offer every inhabitant the chance to make it their home in harmony with living beings and with respect for nature. All is not hopeless...  

To the dark side of the "damage of progress", Philippe Madec will contrast the "good news": the imperative of reuse, the praise of proximity, the choice of renewable energies, the relational intensity that exalts collective intelligence, the power of action alongside nature to ease our reliance on natural resources, and to move towards better with less...  

The event was organized in collaboration with the Grantham Foundation, the Canadian Centre for Architecture and the Consulate General of France in Quebec City.