The building site

the house – slideshow with commentary

Antti Lovag lived on-site during the building process. After studying the nature and characteristics of the terrain, he began with an iron re-bar network that enabled him to visualize the interior spaces and define the openings to the sky, the sea or landscapes. He then cast a layer of concrete over this metal template.

These are my conditions:
I don't know how long it's going to take, I don’t know what it will become and I don't know how much it will cost. Antti Lovag

Through my experimental approach I more closely resemble a 15th century companion than a business executive. Antti Lovag

Architecture doesn’t interest me. Man, human living spaces interest me: creating an envelope around man’s needs. Antti Lovag

I live on the construction site; when the house is finished, I’ve lived everywhere within it, in all seasons.I’m first in line to experience my bullshit. Antti Lovag

antti lovag

l’architecte – biography

Antti Lovag arrived in France in the late 1940s and gained his initial experience with Jean Prouvé. In the 1960s, he worked with Jacques Couëlle, one of the first architects to develop an organic architecture style in France. In the early 1970s, he began the construction of the Bernard house where he implemented his radical and innovative housing design.
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The approach

architecture – video

Antti Lovag has a unique vision of architecture. To underscore the non-conventional dimension of his approach, he defines himself as a “habitologist”. He is not interested in architecture as such, but rather focuses on man and his living space to create an envelope encompassing man’s needs.

I’ve always worked with adventurers who wanted something that didn’t exist. Antti Lovag

The only known designs for the construction site are those made on the ground with chalk or on a scrap of a cement sack, to explain a detail. Antti Lovag

We always begin from the inside, the exterior is a result. The blueprints were just for the construction permit; I did them freehand. Antti Lovag

Pierre Bernard

the patron – biography

Pierre Bernard was convinced by Antti Lovag’s talent and innovative ideas and gave him the freedom, the means and the opportunity to implement them for nearly twenty years.

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The result

the result – slideshow

The Bernard House was practically completed at the end of the 1970s. Designed as a family home, it includes a set of shared living areas and private spaces dedicated to each of the four family members. This is one of three emblematic Antti Lovag architectural achievements and is generally considered the most perfectly completed.

Archives

internet (french only)
Habiter selon Antti Lovag
Antti Lovag : Architecte Anti-conformiste
Antti Lovag – FRAC Centre
Qui est Antti Lovag ?
Architecte habitologue – archives orales des Alpes-Maritimes
Patrimoine architectural des «30 glorieuses», Theoule-sur-mer

press
LʼArchitecture dʼAujourdʼhui, n° 182 déc 1975, et n° 200 déc 1978
Architectural Digest, march 1981
Actuel, n° 31, mai 1982
Habitat, n° 22, avril 2002
Neuf, n° 78, février 1979

books
Wohnpoeten, Wolfgang M. Ebert, Fricke Verlag, 1982
Architecture Expérimentale 1950-2000, collec. Frac Centre, 2003
Architecture Sculpture, collec. Frac Centre, 2008
Antti Lovag habitologue, Pierre Roche, France Europe éd. 2010
Le palais bulles, Jean Pascal Hesse, Assouline, 2012
Villas 60-70 en France, Raphaelle Saint-Pierre, Norma éd. 2013