Building for People: Ingrid Taillandier on Her Career in France, Her Focus on Density, and the Peers She Admires
Portrait by Vincent Pancol
By Julia Gamolina
A registered architect in France since 2000, Ingrid Taillandier rapidly focused her attention into three activities: practice, writing and teaching. She created her own office ITAR ARCHITECTURES in 2006. An architect committed to urban renewal through an architecture focused on the quality of uses and common spaces aiming to strengthen social bonds, her work and her reflections have been warmly welcomed in France, garnering her the Special Prize for Women Architects in 2016 (Prix Spécial des Femmes Architectes).
Her interest in density and high rise buildings made her write several articles on these specific topics and give lecture around the world. She was curator of an Exhibition “The Invention of the European Tower” at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal in Paris in 2009. She is also Director of the Franco-Chinese double-master "ECOLOGICAL URBANISM" offered jointly by the Versailles School of Architecture and the College of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University in Shanghai. Ingrid holds a graduate degree from the Paris-Belleville School of Architecture, and a master’s degree from Columbia University in New York City.
In her interview, Ingrid talks about beginning her career in the US, developing it in France, and focusing on high rise building. She advises those just starting their careers to surround themselves with the right people and to eventually learn how to delegate.
JG: How did your interest in architecture first develop?
IT: I grew up in a family of builders and makers -my grandfather was an engineer and an entrepreneur who built dams in Morocco for thirty years. Hearing about his adventurous work life made me dream of having a similar career one day. Then, my father was a ceramic sculptor gifted with exceptional drawing skills. During the summertime, his friends and architecture students would gather at his house in South of France and hold architectural competitions or build some parts of the house themselves.
I remember that even at the age of thirteen I was intrigued and amused with this unique method of studying. I witnessed the most exciting things in my father’s backyard. These summers left a huge impression on me and would later come to influence my career choice.
72 units of social rental housing, 1 nursery and 2 shops in Paris by ITAR.
72 units of social rental housing, 1 nursery and 2 shops in Paris by ITAR.
I know you didn’t immediately study architecture - how did you finally come to it?
I always dreamt of working with Doctors Without Borders, but by the time I finished high school, I wanted to be an architect. I envisioned myself working with cities destroyed from natural disasters like earthquake, floods and helping them rebuild themselves in an efficient and inclusive manner. But my plans had to wait a bit longer, as during early 1990s France underwent a huge real-estate crisis and many successful architect firms had to shut their doors forever. My parents advised me to follow a much safer path and henceforth I join a prep school to enter into a business school.
That was definitely not my calling though, so I decided to take a gap year to discover the world and find my passion. I lived and worked in the USA on an au pair work visa, working part time for a kind family in Kansas City and looking after their three young daughters. With their help I started a non-degree Architectural study course at University of Missouri. Returning from the USA , I enrolled at Belleville School of Architecture in Paris. The first year studies were very intense but my time at University of Missouri paid off as I could lean on my acquired knowledge for the projects. I never forgot what I learned in America: “Believe in yourself.”
“I won my first competition for a public construction contract of a small building of seven social housing units ...the same day, I gave birth to my first daughter.”
How did you get to Columbia GSAPP?
I spent the following five years studying in France with only one conviction in mind: to return to the US and attend a New York City university for masters in architecture. It was not an easy task as not only I needed to work hard but I also needed financial aid to be able to pursue my dream. I managed to receive two great scholarships though, one from an American Women’s group in Paris and another, the Delano and Aldrich Emerson Fellowship. I enrolled to the AAD Master program at Columbia University GSAPP and graduated in the year 1998.
How did you get your start in the field upon graduating?
To support my tuition fees, I worked as a Teaching Assistant to Joan Ockman, an accomplished theorist of architecture. Alongside her, we organized a symposium called “Paris-New York 1968” at Columbia University where the alumni who were now qualified Architects and Professors shared their experiences, inspirations, reactions, moments they lived in 1968. She introduced me, on this occasion, to Jean Louis Cohen, an architectural historian from France and a professor at NYU.
Upon my return to Paris, I worked with him for two years on an architecture museum project, La Cité de l’Architecture located in 16th district of Paris. During this time I became obsessed about the historical impact of World Wars I and II on architecture between Europe and the USA and I chose to do my diploma thesis on PSFS building - the Philadelphia & McGraw-Hill Building, which I consider to be the first modern skyscrapers build in the USA. In the year 2000, I hesitated between a PhD in the architect history or starting a practice. But the choice became evident since I missed so much the team work and the design process of the practice, so I decided to start working for Phillipe Gazeau.
Thirteen apartments (new and renovated) in Paris. Photography by Gaela Blandy.
Project Part-Dieu tower in Lyon,construction on progress. Courtesy of ITAR ARCHITECTURES.
How did your own practice come about after that?
I worked for Phillipe for two years and then created my agency in 2006. I won my first competition for a public construction contract of a small building of seven social housing units on rue Pouchet in Paris’s 17th arrondisement, and the same day, I gave birth to my first daughter. In the same year I also became an Associate Professor. 2006 was an incredible year!
Then I went on to build a second building with fourteen apartments on rue Volta, and then a third with twenty-eight. Both were social housing, a very exponential production in terms of the number of homes. Now I am completing a third tower of 50m height of private home ownership.
Tell me how the office grew throughout all this, and your developing focus on high rise building.
The office grew slowly, from just two people at the beginning. Now we are fourteen, which is the right size in my opinion, to be able to manage everyone at the office, to follow their work, to keep up with all the projects, and to be able to make decisions together. In France, public real estate developers help young architects to get started. I was very lucky, I was supported in an environment that I did not know. I spend so much energy in anonymous competitions the first years, most of them lost that I lost confidence at some point. Fortunately, my projects were noticed, they dealt above all with the interior quality of the housing and the sustainability of the building.
It is important for me to note also that one third of our projects are rehabilitation projects on social housing. At the office, we aim to treat new projects and rehabilitation ones with the same attention, dealing with the question of metamorphosis, giving architectural ensembles a new identity and restoring dignity lost under the weight of time, and above all improving the overall performance from an environmental point of view.
“I learn a lot from students, they force me to question myself and while explaining the design process and I always find ways to better my design choices. A young brain is the key to future...”
Tell me about your teaching.
Teaching also became very important in my life. I learn a lot from students, they force me to question myself and while explaining the design process and I always find ways to better my design choices. A young brain is the key to future and I am lucky to work with students. I teach housing projects and public services from 1rst to 5th year. I am also the Director of the Franco-Chinese double-master "ECOLOGICAL URBANISM" offered jointly by the ENSA Versailles and the College of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University in Shanghai. My focus is on urban subjects such as water Cities, new cities or density. Each year we organize an exhibition and we publish a book on these specific topics. Recently, I have been able to connect my practice and my teaching on urban projects, which finally makes sense.
Where are you in your career today?
I understand that I am no longer the young architect I was, but an experienced architect whose knowledge, expertise and convictions are attractive. I also understand that being a woman finally can be positive. We have a lot of women as mayors elected recently in France who want women to work in their cities. Sorority makes sense nowadays.
My dream next step is to build abroad! For now, I have more and more invitations to give lectures abroad. I probably wish I could travel more for professional reasons. I am asked to write on the quality of housing in France in different think tanks. I was appointed this year to the Academy of Architecture. It's hard to admit that I am getting older but at the same time training and helping young architects is wonderful now. I am less focused on my production. I need to feel useful to the next generation.
68 affordable apartments for purchase, 53 units of social rental housing and 2 shops in Paris. Design by ITAR ARCHITECTURES and FRESH ARCHITECTURES. Photography by Sergio Grazia.
68 affordable apartments for purchase, 53 units of social rental housing and 2 shops in Paris by ITAR ARCHITECTURES and FRESH ARCHITECTURES. Close up of balconies. Photography by Sergio Grazia.
Looking back at it all, what have been the biggest challenges?
Accepting to be slower in my progress than my male architect friends, accepting to build less. Giving up networking invitations on multiple occasions to favor family.
What have been the highlights?
A major moment was being curator for an exhibition at the Arsenal Pavilion in Paris, on the European towers. I have given lectures on this topic around the world and now I am building some towers. I believe that density is a key issue today. Even though the sanitary crisis might frighten the opponents of densifying, It is our responsibility to build enough affordable collective housing since two out of three people will live in a metropolitan area by 2050. We have to respond to this demand by building more where needed. It is also important to provide enough public facilities and to avoid urban sprawl and focusing on density is a perfect tool for it.
“I believe we can promote good design and wellbeing for all through our housing projects. I believe we build for the people...Our buildings play the role of transitional spaces between the public space, the street, to the more intimate private space of the apartment.”
Who are you admiring right now and why?
All of the women who became Deans of architecture schools in the US. Sarah Whiting, Amale Andraos, Deborah Berke, Harriet Harriss, Karen Nelson, Meejin Yoon, Mónica Ponce de León. I wish we had the same in France! I also really admire Jeanne Gang, for her inventive designs and modesty; Kazuyo Sejima Sanaa, for the poetry and the delicacy of her design; and Anna Heringer for her humanitarian and sustainable designs, built using bamboo in Bangladesh.
What is the impact you’d like to have on the world? What is your core mission?
I believe we can promote good design and wellbeing for all through our housing projects. I believe we build for the people, for the inhabitants. Our buildings play the role of transitional spaces between the public space, the street, to the more intimate private space of the apartment.
A building is a small community in itself. With our architecture, we can offer spaces for people to connect with each other. When I am asked for lectures abroad, I noticed that people really want to know how we build social housing in France. I always start from the inside, from the quality of the apartment itself and of the common spaces.
Finally, what advice do you have for those starting their career? Would your advice be any different for women?
Surround yourself with the right people, feel less guilty, learn how to delegate. The essential quality of an architect is to resist while being flexible - to resist the pressures of fundamental changes that create imbalance your projects when accepting non-essential changes. Finally, for women - be extremely professional because the mistakes made by women are much less accepted than those by men.