CLIMATIC VILLA
Villa Romaine, Hyères, France, September 2024
HEAD – Genève & École Camondo
Climatic Villa is a workshop that explores the complexities and contradictions between architectural heritage and the new challenges posed by the global climate crisis. It took place in the unique setting of the historical Villa Romaine, located in the southern French city of Hyères. Once a luxurious private residence dedicated to pleasure and hedonism, Villa Romaine is now a preserved historical monument. However, it is no longer in active use, its future is uncertain, its maintenance is costly and complex, and its heritage status makes it difficult to imagine how it can transform in the future.
This context—both opulent and problematic—created the perfect opportunity for students to reflect on questions of future adaptability, transformation, and the possibility of flexible uses for the Villa in the face of pressing climatic, environmental, and social crises.
The workshop was a collaboration between two schools: HEAD – Genève and École Camondo Méditerranée. Imagining probable dystopian scenarios that society may face in the near future—such as water scarcity, floods, extreme heat, and air pollution—students developed 1:1 scale projects to transform different spaces within the Villa. They strategically reimagined the villa’s main hall, terrace, staircase, maintenance room, garden, and swimming pool into new programmatic typologies, speculating on key questions:
How can preserved monuments adapt to future drastic challenges?
What tools can help heritage buildings adequately respond to climatic and environmental issues?
What new radical habitation scenarios and typologies can heritage buildings catalyze?
