The architecture of Fabien Brissaud, who founded the mobile architectural o ce (MAO) in Paris in 2010, stems from two attitudes toward space : one a Cartesian and analytical approach, the other a sensitive and anthropological analysis. The agency’s projects are, therefore, as much about the intangible nature of a place as its materiality and substance.
In order to do so, MAO insists on being present and wants to be “on site” throughout the project from discovering the work site, the conception and right through to completion. Thereby, each building does not tell the story of its architecture but rather the story of the site itself, of its community, its neighbourhood, its businesses, its schools.
This immaterial story, which includes light as well as sociological encounters, is transcribed by the architect through the materials, which are inspired by the spirit
of the place, and their use in construction. Fabien Brissaud believes that the drawing, the quality of which is to be found in the smallest of details within the metalwork
or even a handrail, is what makes architecture, never the materials alone.
Architecture is aimed at everyone and should, therefore, work 24/7 because the city is not the same at 10 am as it is at 9 pm or even during the night.
In this respect, a building is never self-referential. This thought process carried out by the agency makes it possible for the project to take form within the urban concert that is its own, to strike a balance of form which allows for the introduction of a built space that unites with its environment.
Despite the Parisian projects being long in the making, MAO has nevertheless, over six years, completed the renovation of a community centre, a multimedia library,
an associations’ hub, an administrative hub, a nursery as well as a number of
housing units in Paris and the Ile-de-France region. Through technical and practical programmes, either public or private, the will to renew the spaces on a scale with the urban challenges they represent is always clear.
In fact, whether it is solid stone or wood, MAO’s architecture is always aware of the building constraints of any given project, a contemporary interpretation which often conceals subtle construction choices which have the building’s resilience in mind.
By exploring all of the elements involved in making a place feel like it is « lived in », MAO addresses all of the di erent aspects of architecture and makes it possible for the agency to create community spaces that unite, beyond the buildings themselves.