A Right to Difference

The Architecture of Jean Renaudie
Iréné Scalbert

In France no less than in Britain, the late 1960s saw a rebellion against the relentless anonymity of modernist planning. In the search for alternatives, Jean Renaudie showed an originality and a daring unrivalled up to this day. Conceived along structuralist principles, informed by research in molecular biology, his urban projects overturned the logic of the vast housing estates that were being steamrolled across France by the State. In the place of uniform tower blocks, he designed developments in which every dwelling was unique. Diversity – the spanner in the works of mass production – was for him a moral obligation. No concession was made in the name of type, be it human or architectural.