Jacques Ferrier

Following his architectural training at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris-Belleville and the École Centrale de Paris, he created his own architecture firm, Jacques Ferrier Architecture, in Paris in 1993. His portfolio of work includes cultural and leisure facilities (such as the France Pavilion for Expo 2010 Shanghai and water park Aqualagon in Villages Nature Paris), showcase buildings (such as the head office of Champagnes Piper & Charles Heidsieck in Reims, the head office of publishers Hachette Livre in Vanves near Paris and the Airbus Delivery Centre in Toulouse), public buildings (notably the Collège de France in Paris, the headquarters of Métropole Rouen Normandie and the French International School of Beijing).

His projects follow a clear philosophy: creating architecture and cities for a creative and sustainable society.

In 2010, Jacques Ferrier and Pauline Marchetti, in collaboration with the philosopher Philippe Simay, created Sensual City Studio, a research laboratory devoted to a forward-looking, humanistic and sensitive approach to the city and architecture.

Jacques Ferrier is the author of a number of works and articles on the subject of architecture. His architectural work has been the subject of many publications, especially The Architecture of Jacques Ferrier (Thames&Hudson, London. He has been the recipient of a number of prizes and awards in France and abroad, including LEAF and BEX awards in London, Architizer A+Award in New-York, and Highly Commended mention at the WAF 2016 in Berlin.

In 2016 and 2017, several monographic exhibitions dedicated to his work were organized: ‘Impressionismus at the Architektur Galerie Berlin, ‘Non oppressive Design’ at the DOKK1 in Aarhus, ‘A vision for the Sensual City’ in Manila, Singapore, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.

Jacques Ferrier is qualified to teach in French architectural schools (as “Professeur des Écoles d’Architecture”). He has been made both a Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite and a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.

The Sensual City is a project that answers the urgent question of what urban planning should be both today and tomorrow. The urban culture developed in the 20th century is steadily expanding and over half the world’s population now lives in cities, a proportion that is continually increasing and causing functional problems on an unprecedented scale. It is a situation that threatens our planet’s resources, as well as the way we live together in cities. In the western world, there is a need to go beyond the traditional model of the historical urban model – European and American - take a fresh look not only at the city core, but also at the suburbs, the infrastructure, the transportation systems... and accept that they represent a fully-fledged contemporary urban landscape. Throughout the world and on all continents, giant cities with over ten million inhabitants are taking form. In the 21st century, hundreds of millions of people will find themselves living in an exclusively urban environment, an artificial universe in which technology will be omnipresent.

With the Sensual City, the intention is to develop an alternative approach, one in which technology is not obtrusive nor an end in itself. On the contrary, as technology is perfected it becomes invisible, it disappears from view and allows people to live in cities that can be construed as built landscapes, designed to offer a full sensorial experience. The city becomes an environment that incorporates a high level of sustainable development as well as a setting where people can take pleasure in living together and relate to its history as the founding source of civilization. To achieve these ends, it is essential that the city be deeply rooted to its specific culture, climate and geography.

The Sensual City was the subject of a symposium organized at the Collège de France in September 2009. Internationally recognized personalities - architects, urban planners, scientists, philosophers, sociologists and artists - crossed their eyes on the theme of sensuality linked to architecture and city planning.

• Non Oppressive Design, A Path towards the Sensual City, Dokk1, Aarhus, Denmark (2017)
• A Vision for the Sensual City, White Box, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2017) Noble House, Jakarta, Indonesia (2017) Visma Art Gallery, Surabaya, Indonesia (2017) Urban Redevelopment Authority, Singapore (2016) National Museum of the Philippines, Manila (2016)
• Skin, Double Skin, a Sensual Approach to Building Envelope, Palazzo Beltrade, Milano, Italy (2017)
• Impressionismus, Architektur Galerie, Berlin, Germany (2017)
• Architecture = Durable / Architecture = Sustainable, Jacques Ferrier, commissaire d’exposition scientifique, Pavillon de l’Arsenal, Paris, and French Institutes in various countries (2016)                      
• A Reciprocal Perspective / Un Regard Réciproque, French Institute of Beijing, China; Minsheng Foundation, Shanghai, China (2015)
• La Gare Sensuelle / The Sensual Railway Station, Pavillon de l’Arsenal, Paris, France (2014) La Galerie d’Architecture, Paris, France (2012)

• A History of Thresholds: Life, Death and Rebirth, co-author with Pauline Marchetti, éd. JOVIS Verlag GmbH, Berlin (2018)
• Belle Méditerranée, La Métropole Sensible / Towards a Sensory Metropolis, Sensual City Studio, éd. Métropolis / Archibooks (2014)
• La Possibilité d’une Ville, éd. Arléa, Paris (2013)
• Architecture = Durable / Architecture = Sustainable, catalogue of the itinerary exhibition, Jacques Ferrier, scientific curator, Pavillon de l’Arsenal, Paris
• Paris sous Verre, catalogue of the exhibition, Jacques Ferrier co-author with Bernard Marrey, Pavillon de l’Arsenal (1997)
• Construire en Acier, Jacques Ferrier co-auteur, Editions du Moniteur (2014)
• Usines 2, Jacques Ferrier, Ed.Electa-Moniteur, Paris (1991)
• Usines 1, Jacques Ferrier, Ed.Electa-Moniteur, Paris (1987)

• The Architecture of Jacques Ferrier, Alexander Tzonis and Kenneth Powell, Thames & Hudson, London (2016)
• Pavillon France, Exposition universelle de Shanghai 2010, éd. Archibooks, Paris (2010)
• Cité de la Voile Eric-Tabarly, Silvana Editoriale, Milan/AAM Ed., Bruxelles/Ante Prima, Paris (2008)
• Making of, Phare & Hypergreen Towers, AAM Ed./Ante Prima, Paris (2006)
• Concept Office, architecture prototype, AAM Ed./Ante Prima (2005)
• Useful/ Utiles, The Poetry of Useful Things, La Poésie des Choses Utiles, Birkhäuser Basel-Boston-Berlin /Ante Prima, Paris (2004)
• Stratégies du disponible, éd. Passage Piétons, Paris (2004)