Interview with Francis Nordemann

Designer and designer of urban plans, vice president of the European Association for Architectural Education (EAAE). Francis Nordemann is a professor at the Paris School of Architecture in Belleville. In his private professional practice, he focuses primarily on residential housing projects and urban design. Buildings based on his designs are realized in France, Italy, and the USA. Nordemann serves as a visiting professor at the University of Kentucky, Columbia University, and the University of Pennsylvania. As a professor, he also teaches at the Lyon School of Architecture and the Normandy School of Architecture. Francis Nordemann represents the European Association for Architectural Education (EAAE) on the jury.

The interest of students in the International VELUX Award competition has been extraordinary throughout its existence. In this, the third edition, nearly seven hundred submissions were submitted. How would you describe their overall quality?
Our standards are neither too high nor too low. Of course, we have winners and losers, and we even created a hierarchy for those nearly seven hundred projects. Some address light used in objects and products, while others focus on innovations in creating light. As a jury, we were more interested in ideas on the theme “Light of Tomorrow” and dealt with light as well as darkness. We were looking for a different way to look at light. Most of the projects submitted in the competition bring light to places where it would otherwise not exist. That is one way to approach it, to expand horizons a little more and to light up the darkness.

So you didn’t find any patterns for the light of the future, such as some incredibly avant-garde standard?
I would like to say yes, but we weren't even looking for that. Rather, we asked ourselves: what is innovation when you talk about the level of light, for example. We did not expect a new bulb with special effects or anything like that.

Did you notice any trends in the use of daylight in contemporary or future architecture?
An interesting, new ecological approach has emerged, which is good because ecology should be as important as hygiene. Some projects aimed to transform light, while others preserved it to later revive and use. That is truly a new approach. When I joined the jury two days ago, I did not expect to see nearly seven hundred projects. None of my students participated in the competition, nor did any of my friends' students.

How would you describe the experiences you've gained in this jury?
I believe that teachers have a great responsibility and help students to participate in the International VELUX Award competition, especially regarding such a complex topic. Light is everything, but it may mean nothing. Therefore, the answer is not a window with a special shape. We've seen that already, and it would not fulfill the purpose of the International VELUX Award competition. In some ways, we need to be more clever, more precise, and more demanding, focusing not on the general idea of light but on new visions, a new culture of light. This essentially means that we must confront the idea of the light of tomorrow - which is a relatively difficult but also stimulating task for both the student and the teacher.

What would you advise a student who wants to participate in this VELUX competition?
The recommendation would be to focus, to try to understand what I just said. In a project regarding light, the goal is the light of tomorrow, so it is essential to concentrate on innovative concepts.