The Journal de Brou exhibition will be presented from November 3 to 21, 2025, at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture of Paris-Val de Seine.
Winner of Faire 2021, Studio d’Écoutes Rurales conducted action research into alternative territorial planning in the commune of Brou, Eure-et-Loir (28). The exhibition reveals the findings of this study and demonstrates that it is essential today to consider a new way of reading the territory in order to make it visible in its entirety and develop the necessary actions.
This exhibition is the result of a year of research aimed at producing three sensitive maps of the territory. Three immersive stays in Brou enabled us to develop and apply a method of mapping by listening to what is present, making visible what is already there. Like all maps that shape our perception of the world, this new corpus of spatial representations is intended to transform the way we collectively view our surroundings.
These maps are intended for all developers, in the hope that their practices will be changed by a new interpretation of the territory. Many characteristics of the municipality of Brou echo those of other rural areas in France and Europe, although certain aspects make it a unique case study. Its population has been declining for 30 years despite a connection to the SNCF rail network, and the municipality straddles the Perche and Beauce regions - two natural regions that are starkly contrasting.
The method and cartographic approaches presented in the exhibition are universal in scope and can be applied to any municipality seeking to identify development solutions among what already exists. This study presents the three-part method - listening, mapping, planning - used by the Studio d'Ecoutes Rurales, which illustrates how these new cartographic representations could transform land use planning.
This exhibition is the result of a year of research aimed at producing three sensitive maps of the territory. Three immersive stays in Brou enabled us to develop and apply a method of mapping by listening to what is present, making visible what is already there. Like all maps that shape our perception of the world, this new corpus of spatial representations is intended to transform the way we collectively view our surroundings.
These maps are intended for all developers, in the hope that their practices will be changed by a new interpretation of the territory. Many characteristics of the municipality of Brou echo those of other rural areas in France and Europe, although certain aspects make it a unique case study. Its population has been declining for 30 years despite a connection to the SNCF rail network, and the municipality straddles the Perche and Beauce regions - two natural regions that are starkly contrasting.
The method and cartographic approaches presented in the exhibition are universal in scope and can be applied to any municipality seeking to identify development solutions among what already exists. This study presents the three-part method - listening, mapping, planning - used by the Studio d'Ecoutes Rurales, which illustrates how these new cartographic representations could transform land use planning.
