WIMM develops ahandcrafted approach to architecture by stimulatingindividualspirit through its designs.
WIMM is an office of research and development in the fields of architecture, design and urban design. It was born from the association of William Tenet , Patrick Arrighetti and Ana Luisa Gonçalves.Our approach begins by comprehending the territory as a place to be invented. It is a back and forward research of the relationship of individuals with space and urban space by giving a resolutely contemporary response.
" Created in the heart of the French Alps, our office production is influenced by the avant-garde spirit of the first realization of ski resorts created in the 60s which allowed innovation, raised hopes through a change in architecture and gradually transformed the local economy. It changed the structure of social ties by inventing a new way of living. Optimism as aresponse to a particular economical and cultural epoch " William Tenet .
Without an apriority approach and the ability of synthesize the constraints in strong architecture, the office delivers projects rooted in their context, questioning habits and users.
The Refuge Presset at Pierra-Menta, expresses both a convergence of paths, a centre, but also an inner journey into contact with the elements in an extreme nature frame. The Theatre Maurice Novarina at Thonon-les-Bains proposes a surgicalrenovation where reception spaces and circulations are re-thought as an urban shelf in charge of the connection and the cultural mediation between the public and the urban emplacement.
"There is a certain continuity in our work, we always seek to establish links with the outside world and expand the possibilities in life with new spaces, whatever the nature of the environment whether natural or artificial. We develop architectures around the individual. Its relation to space and its relationship to others nourish our work. By decodifying spaces, questioning their uses, displacing, we try to give through our architecture an opportunity for the individual to question and appropriate." Ana Luisa Gonçalves.
The College ofChirens it isdeveloped as an abstraction and low volume of wood in the landscape, not imposing its presence, but proposing a strong link between interior and exterior spaces. On the contrary the Aragon Cultural Centre of Villard-Bonnot is established as a city landmark and develops a series of programmatic friction around its exhibition space and cinema auditoriums generating curiosity and stimulating creation.
« Our approach is based on "making", what we call the "artisanal" side of our production. We develop our projects by studying then with multiplephysical supports, like the development of several models, and by the proximity relation with the companies involved. This allows us to understand the space by the materials and its applications, to find economic and constructive solutions, sometimes even invent, while maintaining consistency of architectural writing. » Patrick Arrighetti.
Alfred " everyday objects ", is designed as arefined but simple space with the ability of transforming itself according to its content. The space is supported by a perforated wall system created for the project with the capacity of easy concept mutation and a leisure development. The Art Center&Gite atPrabert offers a system composed by an overlaid roof panel composed by recycle wood doors, windows or shutters with the propose of creating an contemporary identity and an echo with the traditional surrounding buildings.
Today, the experimental work continues to be developed with several axes of intervention. The multiple programmes studies and the architectural production questions the ways of creating spaces with freedom for the clients and for the project itself.
Our interest in working and intervene on the patrimonial heritage of the XX century is considered through the prism of recycling and questioning rather than providing a simple renovation. The goal is to offers a proposal in accordance with the requirements and practices of today. The former Traders Hotel Aix-les-Bains transformed into urban vertical villas and whose upper ground floors are elevated and formalized through the roof of the shops on the ground floor, illustrates this approach.
The office aims, withthe study of intensification and densification of spaces to build,to reunite energies and resources in the projects.The project " Islands Housing " developed for the town of Soissons intended to revisit the design of social housing. By the creation of a double groundthe project allowed the creation of a “ ground floor programmatic thickness”permitting the implantation of severalactivitieson the ground floor and a dense housing typology program on the first floor with their own gardens and terraces, respecting the cost and eco-labelling purposes.
The project "Town Houses" or “Ordinary Diversities”(projects currently being study) implanted in a dense urban context proposes a hybrid/individual house by building a thick boundary between the inside and the outside that is at the same time structure, skin, furniture.
« You have to constantly invent and create synergies that will allow projects to emerge, remain generous and consistent in spatial and economic context to allow life to develop. » William Tenet.
