Tissus urbains, 2020

Tissus urbains (Urban Fabrics) is an installation developed in relation to the centre of Noisy-le-Sec, a commune in the north-eastern suburbs of Paris, focusing on the area around La Galerie and the Esplanade Simone-Veil. The work takes the form of a large-scale maquette of the surrounding tower blocks, with the spatial arrangement replicating the actual placement of the buildings.

The façades reproduce the colours of the original 1970s buildings, a period associated with postwar reconstruction, social housing development, and the construction of the banlieue HLMs (habitations à loyer modéré, state-subsidised social housing). In contrast, the reverse sides incorporate hybrid patterns drawn from contemporary clothing and visual references, including sportswear brands and textile motifs associated with North African cultures, reflecting the neighbourhood’s present social fabric.

Constructed from painted and laser-engraved birch plywood, the installation emphasises a model-like, utilitarian quality, echoing the functional logic and material economy of social housing architecture.