Improvisation and Exceptions: Reflections on Renée Gailhoustet

“The materials are frank and rustic, and what we might otherwise see as construction faults seem to be the treasures of spontaneous invention, as only a wild garden can offer.” – Gilles Delalex, “The Spirit of the Jungle: Improvisation and Exception in the Work of Renée Gailhoustet,” in Renée Gailhoustet

To accompany the exhibition Renée Gailhoustet: A Thousand and One Ways of Living, this event will reflect on the work of the pioneering French architect, as well as her influence on contemporary architectural practice and housing in Europe. Nichola Barrington-Leach, director of NVBL, will share research completed during Royal Academy of Arts Renée Gailhoustet Residency in 2023, as well as work on show in the A Thousand and One Ways of Living exhibition, before Gilles Delalex of Studio Muoto reflects on Gailhoustet and her legacies, through the work of his practice.

The event precedes the release of Renée Gailhoustet, a new book edited by Nichola Barrington-Leach and published by AA Publications, which brings together several voices to celebrate Gailhoustet's architecture, including Gilles Delalex. The publication is available to pre-order from the AA Bookshop and will be available to purchase at the book launch on Tuesday 17 March.

Nichola Barrington-Leach is an architect, educator and the founder of NVBL Architects, a practice focused on environmentally conscious design and research. She was awarded the Royal Academy of Arts Renée Gailhoustet Residency in 2023, and her ongoing research on Gailhoustet will form the basis of a monograph to be published by AA Publications in 2026. Her projects and research have been exhibited internationally, including at the Royal Academy, the Venice Biennale, Clerkenwell Design Week and the Guangzhou Triennial. She currently teaches at the Architectural Association School of Architecture and is a unit tutor for Intermediate 15.

Gilles Delalex is a French architect and co-founder of Muoto, an architectural office based in Paris whose activities cover the fields of architecture, urban planning, design, teaching and scientific research. Muoto’s work features minimal structures that can combine different activities, evolve in time, and merge economical and aesthetic issues. Gilles studied architecture in Grenoble and Montreal. He holds a Master in Urban Planning and a Doctorate of Arts from Alvar Aalto University, Helsinki. He is a Professor at the School of Paris-Malaquais, where he heads the department of Theory, History, and Project. He has taught at ENPC Paris, Harvard GSD and TU Wien. He is also co-director of the Liat research Lab (Infrastructure, Architecture, Territory).

Image: [Left] Renée Gailhoustet, Aubervilliers © Sacha Trouiller / NVBL Architects, [Right] Studio Muoto, Edison building, Paris 13 © Olivier Campagne

Please get in touch to let us know of any access requirements that you might have and how we can best accommodate these. If you are unable to attend physically but would like to participate in the event remotely please email publicprogramme@aaschool.ac.uk