2G 89: BAST

A book featuring the innovative architecture of a group dedicated to research and experiment

BAST, an architecture firm in Toulouse, France, employs assemblage, montage, the superposition of facade layers and colliding structures to challenge the structural unit. The overall logic derives from resemblances: things that look like something else but are not exactly what we expect.

BAST have taken a proactive attitude to research in order to experiment with the diverse potentialities of each project. At each step of the design phase, they propose multiple different solutions. As a result, they do not follow a set formal method; instead, their projects go through an evolutionary process.  The architects recall ideas of modern assemblage and montage: the structural unit is challenged by the superposition of logics, façade layers, colliding structures, sections. The overall logic derives from resemblances, things that look like something else, but are not exactly what we expect. These elements are mixed together. Controlling the resulting combination requires a very clear idea, because otherwise the building site can soon descend into chaos. The structural principle provides the logic, and the design sequence drives together these elements.