Isabelle Laurent
Forum Des Vestiges draws its inspiration and design from the Roman architectural heritage. Beyond the remains, there remain today principles and terms of Roman architecture such as the forum: more than an architectural form, the forum represents a space – virtual or not – of free trade, socialization and debate. In the square, where the project takes place, fragments of ancient columns play with the new wooden columns. A timeless conversation takes place between the immutable and the immortal in the face of the ephemeral and the changing.
Like the forum, the project is conceived as a place of life, a place of exchanges and representations. On the principle of a temple, a colonnade forms a peristyle, offering a stroll on the border between inside and outside, playing with the framing and the play of shadows and lights. One discovers in the hollow of the columns of the seats allowing one to isolate oneself. At the heart of the device stands a monolith of wood, housing a long table, an object of conviviality and exchange that contributes to making this place a space of possibilities.
The forum finds its proportions and limits in the relationship it maintains with the garden responding to the rigorous geometry formed by hedgerows. The essence of this architecture lies in the repetition of a column module surmounted by a lintel. Made only of plywood panels in maritime pine from the Landes, the different parts are assembled with each other by a system of notches. This constructive principle allowed to limit the time of assembly on-site in the construction of this temple of 12.5 meters long, 6.25 meters wide and 5 meters high.
Helped by three carpenters, the architects and designers were also builders of their work. The construction time on site was a real moment of exchange and collective invention.
Project Info
Architects: Pratique Architecture, fanum architecture
Area: 78 m²
Year: 2024
Country: Rome, Italy
Photographs: Gautier Baufils
Manufacturers: NP Rolpin, Serge Ferrari
Construction: Julien Lavoine Charpentiers
Drawings, Text Conception, Conception Technique, Construction: Pratique . Fanum
Program / Use / Building Function: Pavilion, ephemeral architecture
Tags: 2024fanum architectureGautier BaufilsItalyPratique ArchitectureRome
Isabelle Laurent
Isabelle Laurent is a Built Projects Editor at Arch2O, recognized for her editorial insight and passion for contemporary architecture. She holds a Master’s in Architectural Theory from École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris-Belleville. Before joining Arch2O in 2016, she worked in a Paris-based architectural office and taught as a faculty adjunct at the École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris. Isabelle focuses on curating projects around sustainability, adaptive reuse, and urban resilience. With a background in design and communication, she brings clarity to complex ideas and plays a key role in shaping Arch2O’s editorial
