The French architect, winner of the Bigmat ’15 National Prize for France with The Ring of Rememberance in Notre-dame De Lorette, has been granted with highest national distinction in the field of architecture.

Rima Abdul Malak, Minister of Culture, visited the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine on 13 October 2022 where she presented, on the proposal of the jury, the 2022 National Grand Prix of Architecture at the Atelier d’Architecture Philippe Prost. At the invitation of the jury, the Minister also presented Renée Gailhoustet with an award of honour for her career.

Created in 1975, the Grand Prix national de l’architecture is the highest national distinction in the field of architecture. It rewards an agency based in France for all its work. The 2022 edition adapted to the evolution of architectural practice, making sure to select architectural agencies rather than individuals and introducing more parity among the finalists.

The jury heard the seven shortlisted agencies on September 7, 2022. The selection criteria for the winner were:

• the richness and diversity of the career path and the quality of the built work that illustrates it;
• The agency’s position vis-à-vis the societal role of architecture and architect;
• The formulation of the thought and the methods used to transmit it.

In 1993, Philippe Prost founded in Paris the agency AAPP – Agence d’architecture Philippe Prost. He has been associated with Catherine Seyler since 1992; Gaël Lesterlin and Lucas Monsaingeon will join them in 2019.

Among the agency’s achievements, we can mention: the rehabilitation of the city of Electriciens in Bruay-la-Buissière (2017), the rehabilitation of the Hôtel de la Monnaie de Paris (2017), the construction of the Notre-Dame-de-Lorette International Memorial, the Ring of Memory (2014), the development and rehabilitation of the Citadelle of Belle-Île-en-Mer (1991-2006).

Specialized in the creation and contemporary intervention on the historical building, the agency’s work is characterized by respect for the site, its history, its geography, by a thorough analysis of the question posed by the program, the choice of a constructive logic and the use of sustainable materials. The skills of the agency are characterized by the ability to adapt and reuse existing spaces, sometimes exceptional, sometimes simply carrying a social memory, respecting their characteristics and adding new spaces of high quality. At a time when the ecological transition is pushing us to review the production methods of built spaces, the work of AAPP – Agence d’architecture Philippe Prost testifies to the alliance between heritage and contemporary architecture.

Philippe Prost is also distinguished by his commitment to the transmission of knowledge to future architects and in architectural research.

In addition, the National Grand Prix of Architecture Award of Honour was presented to Renée Gailhoustet for her work and her reflections on the design of social housing. Witness to a generation of architects engaged in research and innovation at the service of everyday architecture, she was also a pioneer in the practice of this profession by women. As such, she is a reference for everyone today, both for the quality of her reflections and her work and for the exemplary nature of her professional practice. At a time when the quality of housing is at stake both in terms of usage, density and cost, his work remains a very timely and relevant response.

Like each of their predecessors, Renée Gailhoustet, represented by Serge Renaudie, and the Atelier d’Architecture Philippe Prost received from the hands of the Minister of Culture the diploma created by the artist Daniel Buren.

The City of Architecture and Heritage, with the support of the Ministry of Culture, will dedicate a monographic exhibition and a work dedicated to the work of the Atelier d’Architecture Philippe Prost, which will also be led to produce a master-degreeclass for architecture students.

The work of Renée Gailhoustet is the subject of a title in the collection «notebooks of architects», published as part of a partnership between Editions du patrimoine and the Ministry of Culture.

The Minister of Culture would like to commend the work of the six other agencies shortlisted: Atelier du Rouget, Atelier Philippe Madec Architecture et associé, Bruther Architectes, Corinne Vezzoni et Associés, Perraudin Architecture et Studio Odile Decq.