The 18th edition of the Bellastock architecture festival promoting the reuse of building materials and the culture of sustainable architecture was held at l "Éclair in Épinay-sur-Seine, north of Paris, from September 12 to 15, 2024. Participants in the event built and inhabited an ephemeral city called "Stockopolis." A true celebration of architecture, also open to the general public, the event attracts between one thousand and one thousand five hundred visitors each year. Hélène Cascaro, project coordinator, and Mathieu Lamour, architect of the Bellastock cooperative - both committed to architecture "on a human scale and that makes sense from an ecological point of view" - talk about the origins of the festival, Bellastock's year-round activities, and their projects, which are created from reapplied elements of the past and with an eye to the future - the near and much more distant future.
Hélène CASCARO - Bellastock festival coordinator, strategy and development consultant at Hélène Cascaro Conseil. Specialist in the cultural sector (architecture, visual arts and heritage). She supports communities, institutions, museums and associations in their development and in the face of strategic, economic and communication challenges. Passionate about the arts in the broadest sense, she believes that culture has an impact on public life and has power in the development of the individual. He maintains a cultural blog.
Mathieu LAMOUR - Project coordinator at Bellastock for management, conception and implementation. Architect with a specialization in ecodesign, involved in the development of architectural and urban design projects that promote the common good, valorize the environment and the common life of residents. A graduate of l "École Nationale Supérieure d "Architecture de Paris-La-Villette, he co-founded the Tracks architectural agency and then the MALA architectural studio, joining Bellastock in 2024.
Dorota Bielawska: Bellastock is a multi-person collective, what is your role within the festival?
Hélène Cascaro: I'm piloting the project, monitoring the budget, the next stages of the organization, and at the same time I'm responsible for making sure that the festival, which we start preparing several months in advance of course, comes to fruition. So my task is to make sure that the festival, which has been held in Bellastock for eighteen years, sees the light of day.
Dorota Bielawska: You are coordinating the architectural projects in Bellastock.
Mathieu Lamour: I previously had two architectural firms. The reuse of materials is a topic I have been working on for some time. Today I feel a real satisfaction to be able to apply my reflection at Bellastock. It's a bit of a combination of the expertise gained over the years by the co-op and my own practice. The challenge is to develop Bellastock's architectural competence. I coordinate projects in management, conception and construction. I am involved in the development of projects in which we intervene in the role of conceptual architect. We carry them out together with other architectural offices or by associating with them, and we are also looking for new forms of cooperation oriented mainly towards the reuse of building materials.
The 18th edition of the Bellastock Festival entitled "Stockopolis"
Photo: Guilhem Dijoux
Dorota Bielawska: Bellastock is a festival. Please tell us where the idea for this venture came from and who conceived it?
Hélène Cascaro: The festival was born in 2006 at l "École nationale supérieure d "architecture de Paris-Belleville. It was a group of young architects, students, who decided that the classes at the architecture school should also have an operational, construction dimension, which is what they were missing. So they decided, in the form of a student initiative, to organize a festival. The festival remained informal for several years, and in 2010 it became an association. In 2019, the association took the form of a collective interest cooperative, SCIC[La société coopérative d "intérêt collectif - editor's note]. So it got really professional, and the Bellastock festival has grown to include other activities, such as leadership and project management training and promoting awareness of material reuse. Bellastock is also a research office in the reuse domain, and we also have a department working on European projects, obviously related to reuse. And finally, the last chapter Bellastock is developing in the field of transitional urban planning. Bellastock currently employs about twenty people, including two in the Marseille branch and one part-time employee, also in Lyon.
Industrial storage racks, tarpaulins and nets used for scaffolding were used to build "Stockopolis"
Photo: Victoria Tanto
Dorota Bielawska: The festival has evolved into a year-round action.
Hélène Cascaro: We are already preparing the festival itself throughout the year. We have to find partners, think about the theme, choose the place where the festival will be held, the materials. Every year a different material is used during the festival. So far it has been inflatable structures, sandbags or raw earth. This year [2024 - editor's note], to build an ephemeral city, we chose industrial structures - huge warehouse racks, to which we added tarpaulins and nets used for scaffolding. Throughout the year we organize thematic workshops related to the festival.
Photo: Victoria Tanto
This year [2024 - editor's note] we prepared three workshops in Belleville, Paris. The first was on the aesthetics of reuse, and we posed the question, "Does the view of architecture change with reuse?" The second was about the place of the individual, the human gesture, and know-how in relation to standardization and commodification. Because reuse becomes complicated in the context of massification and large-scale production. The third issue, which is obviously very important for l "Ensa Paris-Belleville, concerned the challenge of reuse in teaching in higher education. Since education on the subject is still rare, and in France we still have hundreds, thousands of architects who have been trained without having heard of reusing materials, their first instinct is to build from new.
Industrial warehouse racks, tarpaulins and nets used for scaffolding were used to build "Stockopolis"
Photo: Victoria Tanto
Dorota Bielawska: Bellastock also became a place of expertise.
Hélène Cascaro: A reuse research office. We carry out PEMD[Le Diagnostic Produits, matériaux et déchets - editor's note] product, material and waste diagnostics, support project management, accompany the development of a master plan for what we want to renovate. We intervene in a building slated for demolition to determine which elements can be reused. Because reuse means specific resources, knowledge, time, and adaptation of the entire project.
Industrial storage racks, tarpaulins and nets used for scaffolding were used to build "Stockopolis"
Photo: Victoria Tanto
Mathieu Lamour: It's a different way of doing things, complementary and extremely interesting. We realize that it relates a little bit to something that we may have already lost in the construction world, that is, "artisan" work, "manufactory" work, fabrication in relation to a specific constraint. So our work is also a way to promote the work of enterprises. It's not the same logic, where it's enough to find a new material equipped with a technical sheet and a prescribed assembly system. We have to find solutions anew, adjust the working method. For me, as an artist, it allows me to go further in my search, it's work that requires creativity - which is ultimately the essence of the architectural profession. So it's also very rewarding. In this way, we give value to materials that already exist, which we refine anew. We make architecture that is humanly appropriate and that makes sense from an ecological point of view.
"The Terraces of Happiness - THERE"
Photo: Victoria Tanto
Dorota Bielawska: Bellastock is currently developing a project on L "Île Saint Denis.
Mathieu Lamour: It's a project called La Balise, which we are implementing on behalf of the association Halage, which is part of ESS[Economie sociale et solidaire - editor's note] and together with Bellevilles, a solidarity social benefit enterprise ESUS[Entreprise solidaire d "utilité sociale - editor's note]. This is a project for the renovation of industrial halls; the first one we are implementing as project owner and agent. This renovation consists of remodeling the old industrial halls located on L "Île Saint Denis, at the very beginning only to correct the existing "pathologies" of the buildings. Ultimately, we are making very little intervention in what already exists.
"Polis" in the name of the Stockopolis festival refers to the ancient Greek city-state, which is a place for the exchange of ideas and politics in its most noble sense
Photo: Victoria Tanto
A space will be created in a "box" system, all on wooden support structures. It will be a workshop and office facility, the users will remain there for about two years and then make way for others. So the second goal is to maintain the principle of modularity of the space, so that it can accommodate new users who have very different needs from those before them. The implementation of the project, given all the complexity of the renovation it involves, is very interesting. It touches on the issue of caring for what already exists, the reuse of materials, also the reuse of buildings, thereby reducing destruction/demolition. Added to this is the issue of temporary use, temporary city planning.
Bellastock projects have a different logic than the one in which it is enough to find a new material equipped with a technical sheet and a stipulated installation system
Photo: Guilhem Dijoux
Dorota Bielawska: Temporary, but permanent.
Mathieu Lamour: That is the assumption. The project is being implemented directly for entities of the social and solidarity economy, associations, small structures that have limited resources, but have objectives in which they are extremely committed. We're dealing with a sequence of operations that run with a distant future in mind - and are executed with elements of the past. The question of broad temporality arises, which is interesting. We are relying on the past, and at the same time we are constrained by very short deadlines, there is immediacy in the execution of de facto projects, but it fits into a somewhat more distant vision.
Photo: Guilhem Dijoux
Dorota Bielawska: Bellastock - what does the name of the festival literally mean?
Hélène Cascaro: It's a play on words "Belleville" [the district where l "Ensa de Paris-Belleville is located - editor's note]. and the word "stock" [fr. stock]. So the name comes from the place where the project was born, and encapsulates the desire to inhabit the stock, that is, to use existing materials, to give value to what exists, as opposed to promoting new construction. It grows out of the thought of "we will not demolish," or at least promotes not demolishing, rather carefully dismantling buildings to recover materials that we can reuse, to give them a second life. This understanding gives direction to the actions we take.
La Balise, a project to renovate old industrial halls located on L "Île Saint Denis; carried out by Bellastock on behalf of the Halage association and in conjunction with Bellevilles
Photo: Victoria Tanto
Dorota Bielawska: And every year during the festival - a true laboratory of architecture - you demonstrate the idea of reuse.
Hélène Cascaro: We choose the site and provide the constructors with materials in limited quantities from which they will build the city. The process takes four days, on the first day we build the structure of the city and the roof, because we will be staying overnight in what we have built. On the second day we arrange the space inside, and on the third day the city is opened to the public. So we go to the communication phase, we share the experience with thousands of people, we explain: "Who did we build the city for?", "How did we do it?", "How do we live in it?". On the last day we dismantle the whole thing. And everything must either be reused at the festival site, because there was an interest in keeping the materials, or return to its pre-construction form and be rerouted back to where it came from. We leave behind zero pollution, you could say we have the lightest possible footprint in the place where we construct.
La Balise, a project to renovate old industrial halls located on L "Île Saint Denis; carried out by Bellastock on behalf of the Halage association and in conjunction with Bellevilles
Photo: Victoria Tanto
Dorota Bielawska: The festival is also aimed at the general public.
Hélène Cascaro: The constructors are mainly students of architecture, but also planning, urban planning, future engineers, students of sustainable development, art schools - we don't require technical skills. We also have volunteers who supervise the construction, for example, young graduates already with construction experience, volunteers who help in the kitchen, in organizing cultural events. There are two types of audiences: partners who are invited to see for themselves how the festival is going. These are professionals, investors, architects, representatives of ministries, local authorities, trade unions. And the general public, to whom we offer visits and workshops on the reuse of materials in architecture. Between one thousand and one thousand five hundred people come to the festival. This includes local residents - the festival doesn't fall out of the sky into a random place, we always try to fit into a given place. We work closely with the city that hosts us, with community centers and local associations, we give them visibility.
La Balise, a project to renovate old industrial halls located on L "Île Saint Denis; carried out by Bellastock on behalf of the Halage association and in conjunction with Bellevilles
Photo: Victoria Tanto
Dorota Bielawska: The idea of the festival is also to create a cultural event.
Hélène Cascaro: The fiesta goes hand in hand with the students, so we kept the dual dimension of the festival: a construction site and a party. So in the evenings there are concerts, debates, film screenings - cultural activities complete the project.
Photo: Victoria Tanto
Dorota Bielawska: Does the project have real political support?
Hélène Cascaro: Yes. For years we have been supported by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Ecological Transformation and, depending on the area we are in, communities representing several cities at once. This year [2024 - ed. note] we were supported by the city of Épinay-sur-Seine, but also by the Métropole du Grand Paris. In other years, when we were in the south, it was Grand Paris Sud. Politicians support us because the festival is in the collective interest, our activities are both educational and experimental through concrete action, and at the same time we are spreading the culture of reuse. We can say that we fit into many areas when it comes to the interest of society.
The constructors of the ephemeral city of Bellastock are mainly students - volunteers supervise the construction, help in the kitchen and in organizing cultural events that complement the construction project
Photo: Victoria Tanto
Dorota Bielawska: This year [2024 - ed. note] the festival was called "Stockopolis".
Hélène Cascaro: Each time it's a combination of place, material and theme, we also have a new name for the festival, which makes it a slightly different story each time. This year [2024 - editor's note] we chose L "Éclair, a venue managed by the Soukmachines collective, which is dedicated to organizing cultural events in third place type spaces. It's an area in the city, but at the same time with a forest, which seemed to us an interesting combination in the context of the festival. The name "Stockopolis" means both "resource," as in Bellastock, and "polis" in the sense of the ancient Greek city-state, which is a place of exchange of ideas, debate, a place of politics in its most noble sense. Since the issue of reuse has become truly political, and Bellastock is a pioneer in this field, we wanted to comment on the topic and define what reuse means today.
The constructors of the ephemeral city of Bellastock are mainly students - volunteers supervise the construction, help in the kitchen and organize cultural events that complement the construction project
Photo: Victoria Tanto
Dorota Bielawska: Politicians are finally being forced to take an interest in the idea of reuse.
Hélène Cascaro: Politicians are the target audience for us, reaching them is extremely important. We are constantly trying to sensitize them to the question, "How can we ensure the spread of a culture of reuse?" In fact, sometimes some politicians have no idea what added value reuse of materials can bring. There is endless educational work ahead.
"Polis" in the name of the Stockopolis festival refers to an ancient Greek city-state that is a place for the exchange of ideas and politics in its most noble sense
Photo: Guilhem Dijoux
Dorota Bielawska: Today, compared to the festival's beginnings, is it easier to promote the idea of reuse?
Hélène Cascaro: It's easier to be a pioneer when you're alone, but no one feels like being Don Quixote. It's much more interesting when the market fills up and when there are more of us. It's already starting to get structured, there's a whole string of players among the actors involved in reuse: from vendors to people who do research to design offices. For example, we've managed to create the Opalis catalog, which exists online and lists places in France where unused materials are resold. The more of us there are, the more popular and obvious the idea of reuse will become. But there is still a lot of work left to do, that's for sure. Reuse is something that is part of the very history of humanity, our culture, it's a concept that has always existed. We need moderation, urban density and a different view of waste, which is becoming our resource today; very much in the words of Philippe "Simay, a philosopher who is also a lecturer at Paris-Belleville. The reality is that waste is our resource today, and we need to move away from imagining it in the sense of a fossil resource, extracted from the ground, which is close to exhaustion and will one day no longer be available. In fact, the building to be demolished is a real open pit mine. The more of us there are to promote this thought, the more obvious it will become.
Dorota Bielawska: Thank you for the interview.
The 2024 Bellastock festival was held at L "Éclair, managed by the Soukmachines collective, a site that is in the city, but also adjacent to the forest
Photo: Guilhem Dijoux
interviewed: Dorota BIELAWSKA
more: A&B 12/2024 - THIRD SITES,
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