Call for entries for the Festival des Architectures Vives 2013

As every year, the Festival Architectures Vives will enliven the streets of Montpellier for a few days in June. It is an opportunity to discover hôtels particuliers (grand historic townhouses) and also new architects, through a dozen pavilions built around a single theme.

For the 2013 edition, the theme chosen by the Association Champ Libre is memory, or rather the keepsake: le souvenir.

"A souvenir is the act of recalling an event, a place, a person, a fragrance, an era that we may have forgotten. The souvenir is also memory. Such is the role of the Festival des Architectures Vives: to open up new spaces, to offer new sensations, to allow somewhat forgotten places to be reborn and, today, to reveal memories within them for the duration of a shared moment. In 2013, the Architectures Vives will be genuine places of remembrance. The courtyards of the hôtels particuliers will therefore not simply be settings, receptacles for contemporary architecture, however ephemeral; on the contrary, a dialogue will take place there through memories that are evoked, suggested, revealed, heightened and even anticipated. Memory will then be reciprocal, each giving to the other and giving itself to the other at the same time.

"Souvenir" will be the theme at the heart of the eighth edition of the FAV, which this year will evoke for every visitor emotions rooted in a shared or intimate memory. But it will also be a time of revelation, looking towards a forward-looking dimension that starts from the very substance of the place. Moving people through the pleasure of discovery or rediscovery, through the wonder of places and situations: such are the expectations for this edition. Following a route through the Écusson of Montpellier, each visitor will travel from Souvenir to Souvenir."

If you are interested, you can apply until 17 December. Each selected entrant will receive a grant of €1,000 to build their project, which will run from 12 to 16 June 2013.