Article 544 of the Civil Code states that “Ownership is the right to enjoy and dispose of property in the most absolute manner, provided that such use is not prohibited by law or regulation. ” This right of ownership lies at the heart of our legal and economic system, particularly in the realm of real property such as land (whether natural, agricultural, or developed), ecosystems (forests, marshes, dunes), or buildings (houses, apartments, and commercial properties).
Derived from Roman law, our property law distinguishes between usus (the right to use the thing), fructus (the right to enjoy its fruits), and abusus (the right to dispose of the thing, including the right to alter, destroy, or sell it).
What does property mean in the context of an unprecedented situation, both ecologically and socially? How should material planetary limits (crises in resources, energy, and waste), the urgency of land preservation (biodiversity crisis), and the challenges of greater social justice (housing crisis) prompt us to question what belongs to us and what we hold dear?
No architectural project can be separated from the commissioning framework within which it is conceived and, by definition, from the type of property that underlies it. Whether involving public actors, private operators, or entities serving the public interest, each relationship to property is fundamentally distinct, sometimes complementary or in competition.
This exhibition project aims to tell the story of this sacrosanct concept of property, share observations on its current state (who owns what?), and open up to near and distant alternatives that explore other ways of being and having, leading to new ways of living.
What does property mean in the context of an unprecedented situation, both ecologically and socially? How should material planetary limits (crises in resources, energy, and waste), the urgency of land preservation (biodiversity crisis), and the challenges of greater social justice (housing crisis) prompt us to question what belongs to us and what we hold dear?
No architectural project can be separated from the commissioning framework within which it is conceived and, by definition, from the type of property that underlies it. Whether involving public actors, private operators, or entities serving the public interest, each relationship to property is fundamentally distinct, sometimes complementary or in competition.
This exhibition project aims to tell the story of this sacrosanct concept of property, share observations on its current state (who owns what?), and open up to near and distant alternatives that explore other ways of being and having, leading to new ways of living.
