Venue > ENSAB | Rennes

Instead of the real tours in the city, here is a virtual tour of Hôtel Pasteur and Au Bout du Plongeoir, two "transgressive" places in Rennes /// short videos by students Hugo Heller and Jana Levacher :

ENSAB - Au bout du plongeoir - Jana Levacher from ENSAB on Vimeo.

ENSAB - Habiter Le Coin - Jana Levacher.mp4 from ENSAB on Vimeo.

ENSAB - Mosaïques - Hugo Heller.mp4 from ENSAB on Vimeo.

ECOLE NATIONALE SUPERIEURE D'ARCHITECTURE DE BRETAGNE

The school of architecture in Rennes –– was founded in in October 1905. Aside from the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, it was the second regional specialized institution of architectural education to be created in France, after the school in Rouen. Functioning for many years as a section within the local School of Fine Arts, the institution obtained its autonomy in the wake of the powerful movements following May 1968, thus becoming the school of architecture of the region – Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Bretagne.

Among the 20 schools of architecture in France, ENSAB is a medium-size institution, with an average of 600 students and around 60 faculty fellows. It has a double syllabus programme in Architecture/ Urban Studies and in Architecture/ History and Theory of Architecture (the latter being the only such programme in France).

The present premises were designed in 1989 by Patrick Berger (recipient of the National Prize for Architecture in 2004). The project, developed around the few remaining buildings ofnineteenth-century military barracks, mixes wood and granite, an emblematic stone for Brittany.

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RENNES

ENSAB is situated in the heart of the dynamic metropolis of Rennes, capital of the region of Brittany and a dynamic university campus city (the eighth in France). Reflecting its major role as a legal, administrative and military city, Rennes offers a rich urban panorama of architectural examples: from the remaining medieval timbered houses, the largely reconstructed centre after the 1720 fire by Jacques Gabriel who redesigned it according to a monumental classicist frame, the imposing Parliament and City Hall as well as the Saint Peter cathedral, to the colorful Art Nouveau buildings and the very modern projects realized by architects Georges Maillol, Louis Arretche or Jean Nouvel.

Praised for its distinctive heritage, the entire region of Brittany shares the same architectural richness, displaying a large diversity of buildings: megalithic sites, medieval towns and villages, city-harbours rebuilt after the Second World War, like Brest, Saint-Malo and Lorient, picturesque regionalism. This abundant heritage is far from being perceived as a sole legacy of the past, as it actively participates in the vibrant life of the region.

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