On the occasion of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia curated by Hashim Sarkis scheduled from 22 May to 21 November 2021,Nicolas Laisné Architectes has been invited to present at the Corderie dell’Arsenale«One Open Tower», a 5-meter high Architecture-Sculpture synthesising the French studio’s design manifesto in which a new generation of buildings — open, generous, integrated, innovative in the use of space — explore new ways and practices of “living together” : the chosen proximity. 

Designed before the outbreak of the current global health situation, One Open Toweraddresses questions at the heart of the news not only in response to the curatorial line indicated by Hashim Sarkis, but above all with regard to events that revolutionize the way we live and work, and question our relationship to the world.
Cities today must tackle urban sprawl while preventing the damaging effects of density. One of the solutions lies in the model of the tower, yesterday a symbol of triumphant modernity which must be re-examined in the light of current societal issues.
From this observation, the agency’s desire was born to imagine a Sensitive, Open Tower: One Open Tower.

Nicolas Laisné Architects imagines and designs an architecture-sculpture of a building capable of vertically increasing the living area. This allegorical creation symbolizes the vision of vertical architecture, light, dense and ecologically virtuous.
Based on a constructive principle of intelligent facade, the One Open Tower actively responds to the problem of global warming thanks to these exterior projections, accessible and protective. This design allows a new art of living between exterior and interior, as in a suspended house open to the sky. 

This tower responds to a new desire for community by being accessible to all the diversity of audiences that cross it. It will be of mixed use to live, work, have fun, and meet in a chosen proximity. The building will fully integrate into the urban fabric and promote a new way of life based on exchange, interaction between people to develop new synergies and cohesive urban communities. The One Open Tower embodies the challenges of its time by being open to new perspectives, to an optimistic future. 

One Open Toweris a vertical metal Architecture-Sculpture, made with tubes welded together and wooden shelves. It is composed of two staircases accessible to the public and it is placed on the floor with jacks to make the level. In order to be movable, this Architecture-Sculpture is broken down into 11 elements assembled on site by bolting. It accommodates 12 screens with videos and 7 models in plexiglass, theses elements explains Nicolas Laisné Architectes architectural approach to the visitors encouraging immersion in the multiple life experiences that this future architecture will be able to stimulate in contemporary urban communities.

Furthermore, the screens, videos and plexiglass models will serve to explain the role of the integrated functions of the building: co-living; / co-working / urban farming / rooftop leisure facilities / communal sports facilities / services for the community / underground farming / outdoor living / school for community / learning & research centre.

Nicolas Laisné invited the French artist Guy Limone to make an intervention around One Open Tower to enhance the multidisciplinary approach of the firm around the given theme of How will we live together?

Limone creates poetic worlds that symbolize the encrypted data we have concerning the way people live by transforming these sociological statistics into rich-in-colour visual statements in the form of small plastic figurines that recreate our society in miniature and provoke philosophical contemplation.

One Open Tower will host four so called “verticalities”, vertical wires made of characters of a few centimeters piled up to express these data.

Composition of the Architecture-Sculpture:
• a structure in metal and wood, the open tower
• 12 screens fixed in the work that broadcast 12 videos
• 7 models in a different scale
• 4 works by Guy Limone, the “wires”

At the Arsenal on the occasion of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, Nicolas Laisné is unveiling for the first time his “projections”, holographic models, true signature of the agency. These projections reflect what we already know about the agency’s philosophy and its architectural know-how.Composed of a multitude of plexiglass models, they alone crystallize the fully open architecture and in symbiosis with the exterior made in Nicolas Laisné Architectes. The sense of depth thatthis juxtaposition gives, and the feeling of analmost holographic tower wonderfully conveysthe constant conversation between inside andoutside at NLA. The projection essentializesthis idea of an architecture that is not a wallbetween the inside and the outside, but a realinvitation to encounter the environment.

In collaboration with Philippe Gravier Gallery.
Philippe Gravier Gallery now represents the architect Nicolas Laisné both for his architecture- sculptures (including the One Open Tower), and for his “projection” editions.