“Architecture is too important to be left solely to architects.”

Giancarlo de Carlo

If there were a genuine democratization of the various stages in the development of architectural and urban planning projects, participatory experiences would not be necessary.
The reality is quite different, as, beyond rhetoric, the relationships between project owners, architects, and future users have evolved very little.
The Buisson Saint-Louis project from 1980, along with two social housing rental projects in Yzeure and Gennevilliers, undertaken with my friend Yves de Lagausie, is part of numerous collective housing experiences from the seventies and eighties, involving projects of 5 to 30 units in urban and suburban contexts.
Participatory architecture experiences cannot be improvised, as organizing and facilitating 50 to 150 working meetings between future residents and the project team requires genuine commitment, as well as the application of a specific pedagogy and project methodology.