Metropolises & Architecture

Architecture is at a turning point! Climate change, hyper-connectivity, smart grids, open data, slums and sprawling megacities, intelligent transport, monetization of energy savings, cognitive capitalism: all these issues are impacting the daily lives of millions - not to say billions - of people. Urban practices and lifestyles are changing at great speed, even in European cities that have so far managed to maintain a dimension that is close to the old ideals of urbanity, that have preserved the old centers, with their spheres of intimacy and community in dialogue. All over the world, architecture - heir to ancestral knowledge and know-how - is trying to adapt to the various technical advances, but much remains to be done so that it does not lose its qualities, its atmosphere, the finesse of its lines and its living spaces. In this quest, the beauty and urbanity of public space are at stake, as is the art of living in today's cities and metropolises.
The "Metropolises & Architecture" Fr-Cn double degree proposes to position itself in the face of this quest for urbanity by creating bridges between the architectural and urban, Chinese and European cultures. It is through the confrontation of our respective methods and tools, in a constant back and forth between our spaces of experience and our horizons of expectation, that we will be able to respond to the current challenges that urban society poses to architecture.
And the best way to do this is to work with the younger generations and to graduate them through educational exchanges and training that rely as much on fundamental research as on the operational know-how of universities and schools of architecture.