Competition | Caran d’Ache

You can find information about our proyect for the Caran d'Ache competition on our website!

The project as a planning tool

The project constitutes a true master plan to optimize the use of the site and to guarantee the objectives of the Caran d'Ache company, in harmony with the planning of the eco-neighborhood. It also takes into account the need to offer great flexibility in order to adapt to the permanent evolution of needs.

Towards a sustainable visual identity

The architectural language intends to convey the company's values. In addition to the environmental responsibility objectives already mentioned, the architectural and landscape project seeks to preserve the natural character of the rural landscape, despite the radical transformation that the area will undergo.

The architecture proposes a language of simple, essential and precise forms, which evoke a tradition of artisanal excellence.

These forms are concretized through the use of natural and low-energy materials, such as the wooden structure that evokes the legendary Swiss building tradition, or the local earth walls that contribute to anchor the project to the place, materially and metaphorically.

As is clearly the case with Caran d'Ache products, the expression of natural materials in their raw state also evokes the valorization of the manual-tactile-real as a counterpoint to the growth of the digital-visual-virtual culture.

The perception of an architecture that adds the tactile to the visual is more visceral than rational; it incorporates more of the emotional, as does a colored pencil in opposition to the computer. This approach offers the challenge of an innovative yet timeless architecture, in the spirit of drawing and handwriting. It is in this sense that it is also a "sustainable" architecture seeking to transcend fashion, to resist time, and to connect us to future generations.