Modulating the climate : genesis, development and meanings of bioclimatic design in architecture (1947-1986)

Clément Gaillard, member of Géographie-cités, will present his thesis “Modulating the climate: genesis, development and meanings of bioclimatic design in architecture (1947-1986)

Tuesday 24 May 2022 at 2pm
Centre Panthéon – room 6
Aile Soufflot – 2nd floor
12 Place du Panthéon
75005 Paris

Thesis conducted under the supervision of Mrs Sabine Barles, University Professor, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and co-supervised by Mrs Anne Lefebvre, Associate Professor, ENS Paris-Saclay.

If you wish to attend (on site or by videoconference) please fill in this form. The defense will be followed by a drink at the Institute of Geography (room 303) from 18h.

Composition of the jury
Mr Pierre Fernandez, Professor and Director of the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Toulouse (rapporteur)
Mr. Xavier Guchet, University Professor, Université de Technologie de Compiègne (rapporteur)
Mr Alain Gras, Professor Emeritus, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (examiner)
Ms Marjorie Musy, Director of Research HDR, Cerema (examiner)
Ms Valérie Nègre, University Professor, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (examiner)

Abstract
This thesis explores the genesis of bioclimatic design in architecture in the 20th century and its development between the first oil crisis and the mid-1980s in France and the United States.
Our aim is to study this design approach from the perspective of the knowledge it has allowed to be constituted and disseminated, from climatology to building thermics, in the light of the work of Simondon and Bachelard. The central hypothesis behind this work is that bioclimatic design is more than a design method in architecture, and that studying it from an epistemological point of view allows us to understand the philosophical scope of this approach, which we propose to explore in the last part of our thesis.
In conclusion, we hope to show that the bioclimatic approach, defined as an approach to design and understanding, is likely to shed light on certain current problems related to climate and its interpretation.

Clément Gaillard is a graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, an associate designer of applied arts and holds a master’s degree in philosophy. He is a doctoral student in urban planning at the University of Paris 1 (UMR Géographie-Cités, CRIA team).
www.clementgaillard.com