Until February 1, 2026, the projects of the four finalists of the Beaux-Arts Architecture Competition are on display at the Palais de l’Institut de France. Launched in 2023, this second edition of the competition invites reflection on the theme “Migrate.”
From around fifty applications, the jury selected four projects before awarding the first prize, the Charles Abella Prize, to Mathieu Lucas for Les jardins de l’immersion.
Prior to the exhibition, the finalists were hosted for a three-month residency at the Domaine de Frapotel, designed by Jean Dubuisson in the 1960s. This period allowed them to develop their pre-selected projects, which are now showcased in the exhibition. The theme “Migrate” inspired diverse interpretations while uniting the projects around a shared challenge to the traditional definition of architecture.
© Académie des Beaux-arts
Bernadetta Budzik & Rachel Rouzaud explore Poland’s Vistula La rivière et le placard, examining its role during the destruction and reconstruction of Warsaw. Through three mediums, a wardrobe, a carpet, and a film, they question how the river serves as a conduit for the circulation of knowledge, materials, humans, and history.
arèneeurope interrogates and exposes the contradictions of the European political project. Étienne Gilly & Gianluca Gadaleta analyze the countless heterogeneous flows of overlapping memories and paradoxes, not to resolve them but to maintain their tensions, offering the viewer a striking observation.
© Rachel Rouzaud et Bernadetta Budzik, Jadd Hallaj
© Étienne Gilly et Gianluca Gadaleta
Iris Lacoudre addresses a central question in Chambre souple : the future of humanity in a context of limited resources. She reimagines the corpus of nomadic architectures through linen supports, which serve as both garment and habitat.
Finally, the winning project Jardins de l’immersion, by Mathieu Lucas, in collaboration with Robin Meier and Thomas Bur, explores the migrations of various matters and species, plankton, green water, spores, using advanced scientific tools. They challenge the notion of scale by focusing on the infinitely small and invisible.
© Iris Lacoudre
© Patrick Rimond / Académie des Beaux-arts
Emulations II, engaging with history
The exhibition’s title draws inspiration from the competitions in which students of the Royal Academy of Architecture participated from the 18th century onward. While forms and questions have evolved, emulation remains a shared intellectual ambition: to conceive of architecture as a way of engaging with the life of the city and the world. Since the first edition in 2023, the curatorial team has included Emmanuelle Chiappone-Piriou, Benjamin Lafore, and Sébastien Martinez-Barat.
Émulations II
Pavillon Comtesse de Caen – 27 quai de Conti – Paris 6e
Until February 1, 2026
Tuesday to Sunday, 11 AM – 6 PM
Free admission
Camille Buzon
