A+U 667 - BAST (Preorder)

a+u’s April issue features BAST (Bureau Architectures Sans Titre), based in Toulouse, France. Laurent Didier, Mathieu Le Ny, and Louis Léger have structured a worker-owned cooperative to pursue a research-based approach to architecture. Instead of asserting a singular vision across the board, they inform each project with site-specific decisions and structural logic. Engaging with modest programs, including the refurbishment projects M47 and E53, BAST carves out new spaces while preserving the integrity of the local vernacular building. New constructions, such as M37, present new methods to connect with the site. The 18 projects presented in this issue focus not only on the finished building, but also on the dynamism of the construction site, where constant calibrations take place between human, site, and material.