Arnaud Lacoste
LODE Architecture; France
Lode Architecture, founded in 2002, is led by Arnaud Lacoste, a licensed architect graduated from the Versailles School of Architecture.
After the notable completion of their first project, the F House, which introduced the concept of the tiny house as early as 2005, the agency’s focus shifted to a series of houses across France. Unified by a consistent line of research, a common vein to follow (Lode, in English), these houses, nonetheless, differ from one another. Architectural devices, structural choices, construction methods—each project has the freedom to reinvent everything according to the contexts, landscapes, and programs, without concern for an affixed signature or a distinctive “imprint” that would identify the agency’s production. If there is a common thread through the diversity of Lode’s creations, it is less about a predetermined vocabulary than the approach itself, seeking to make each project a new source of questioning and invention, reinventing a separate world with each project.
Over the past 20 years, Lode’s projects have provided an opportunity for exploratory work, drawing an original approach with each successive project. Firstly, by placing importance on the landscape, urban, or natural context, with each site influencing a unique, responsive, or mimetic architecture. Secondly, in the detailed study of uses and the constant reinterpretation of models through “tailor-made” interventions based on the lifestyle and desires of future occupants. Lastly, in the pursuit of constructive and environmental accuracy: working with concrete, steel, wood, employing prefabrication as well as artisanal skills. The expertise gained in the field of wood, demonstrated by winning three awards at the National Wood Construction Awards (2007, 2012, 2013), has recently been applied in the construction of the new market hall in Courseulles-sur-mer, blending traditional construction with technological innovation.