Studio led by Ahmed Belkhodja (fala atelier) & Camille Bagnoud (COCI studio)

Assisted by Robin Delerce

This semester focuses on contemporary domestic spaces and the roles we assign to ourselves in designing them. Indeed, interior architecture is often mistakenly perceived as a superfluous overlay, a "decorative" luxury that comes after the "proper" architecture. Its communication is usually confined to dedicated magazines and websites, often reproducing gender stereotypes. This accusation of superficiality presupposes a narrow understanding of the value of the surfaces we inhabit, their ability to inform our lives without being things that we "own" and manipulate. One could say that an inhabited room is something that possesses us at least as much as we possess it.

Switzerland's contribution to the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale consisted of a maze of unfurnished domestic interiors, "highlighting a surface hidden behind the promise of rationality and control of the plan." These generic domestic spaces are ubiquitous throughout the country and beyond. They reduce the domestic realm to a container of objects and people, whose illusion of neutrality primarily serves to ensure easy insertion into market norms. As it inevitably intertwines with a myriad of forms of life and intimacy, the residential interior could then be the most significant battleground in the commodification of our built environment.

We first examine developments in generic apartments in Geneva today, then counter them with an "alternative present." By carefully injecting shared spaces that interact with private spheres, we question the very material our apartments are made of and their multiple potentialities. In this context, the "decorative" will signify a transgression of "rationality and control," a sign of vitality, diversity, and intentionality from interior architects.