Project aimed at designing, with and for residents, a guide to transmit best practices for preserving their building.
PROJECT PRESENTATION
The Building Manual – Usage as Heritage project proposes to consider the use of a building as an essential component of its heritage. Inheriting a place is not just about receiving an architecture, but also a set of gestures, habits, and practical knowledge developed by its successive occupants. Yet, these knowledges often disappear with each change of resident, due to a lack of transmission tools.
In response, the project aims to design a building guide: a simple, accessible, and educational tool, conceived at the domestic scale and co-created with residents, to document the real functioning of a place. Like a “health record” for the building, this manual conveys daily practices (ventilation, lighting, maintenance, thermal regulation, existing adaptations), spatial logic, as well as the sensory and social qualities of the place. It thus allows future occupants to better understand, inhabit, and evolve their environment.
The approach is based on a research phase (an atlas of transmission tools), followed by experimentation in three contexts, public housing, private rental, and individual private homes, then a finalization and publication phase.
By valuing the transmission of usage as an architectural, social, and ecological act, the Building Manual aims to extend the lifespan of buildings, avoid unnecessary alterations, and make existing built heritage a living, transferable, and appropriable resource for all.
The Building Manual – Usage as Heritage project proposes to consider the use of a building as an essential component of its heritage. Inheriting a place is not just about receiving an architecture, but also a set of gestures, habits, and practical knowledge developed by its successive occupants. Yet, these knowledges often disappear with each change of resident, due to a lack of transmission tools.
In response, the project aims to design a building guide: a simple, accessible, and educational tool, conceived at the domestic scale and co-created with residents, to document the real functioning of a place. Like a “health record” for the building, this manual conveys daily practices (ventilation, lighting, maintenance, thermal regulation, existing adaptations), spatial logic, as well as the sensory and social qualities of the place. It thus allows future occupants to better understand, inhabit, and evolve their environment.
The approach is based on a research phase (an atlas of transmission tools), followed by experimentation in three contexts, public housing, private rental, and individual private homes, then a finalization and publication phase.
By valuing the transmission of usage as an architectural, social, and ecological act, the Building Manual aims to extend the lifespan of buildings, avoid unnecessary alterations, and make existing built heritage a living, transferable, and appropriable resource for all.
THE TEAM
The project is led by Atelier Apara, which initiates, coordinates, and ensures continuity. The agency develops this research as an extension of its architectural practice, attentive to usage, daily gestures, and the memory of places, fully integrating residents into the process of reflection and creation.
This approach is enriched by collaboration with the collective Umarell, whose expertise in collaborative urbanism and social design supports the meetings and co-design sessions with residents. Their role is to facilitate dialogue, structure exchanges, and reveal often invisible, but essential, practical knowledge needed to understand and evolve the spaces.
The work is further complemented by Zoé Cossais-Bourgeois, a graphic designer and illustrator, who participates in the design of the Building Manual. Her sensitive and pedagogical perspective translates narratives, practices, and everyday gestures into a clear, accessible, and user-friendly graphic object.
Together, these collaborations foster a collective project where architecture, mediation, and graphic design intersect to make the transmission of usage a concrete, living, and sustainable tool.
The project is led by Atelier Apara, which initiates, coordinates, and ensures continuity. The agency develops this research as an extension of its architectural practice, attentive to usage, daily gestures, and the memory of places, fully integrating residents into the process of reflection and creation.
This approach is enriched by collaboration with the collective Umarell, whose expertise in collaborative urbanism and social design supports the meetings and co-design sessions with residents. Their role is to facilitate dialogue, structure exchanges, and reveal often invisible, but essential, practical knowledge needed to understand and evolve the spaces.
The work is further complemented by Zoé Cossais-Bourgeois, a graphic designer and illustrator, who participates in the design of the Building Manual. Her sensitive and pedagogical perspective translates narratives, practices, and everyday gestures into a clear, accessible, and user-friendly graphic object.
Together, these collaborations foster a collective project where architecture, mediation, and graphic design intersect to make the transmission of usage a concrete, living, and sustainable tool.
