Odile Decq facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Odile Decq
Decq at GSAPP
Born	1955 (age 69–70) Laval, France
Occupation	Architect
Practice	Studio Odile Decq

Odile Decq (born in 1955) is a famous French architect. She also plans cities and teaches at universities. Odile Decq started her own company in Paris called Studio Odile Decq. She also founded an architecture school named Confluence Institute. Many people know Decq for her unique "goth" style and appearance.

Becoming an Architect: Odile Decq's Education

In the 1970s, Odile Decq began studying at the École Régionale d'Architecture de Rennes. At first, a director told her she would not become an architect. But she kept going! After two years in Rennes, she moved to Paris. There, she joined La Villette, another architecture school. During her studies, there were many student protests, so she spent time on strike.

To pay for her education, she started working for Philippe Boudon. He was a French writer, architect, and city planner. Boudon was writing about architecture ideas. He was interested in Decq because she had studied literature and languages. Decq started by reading for Boudon. Later, she even helped him with his writing. After four years, Decq left her job to focus on getting her diploma.

She graduated in 1978 from the École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Paris-La Villette. She also earned a diploma in urban planning in 1979 from the Paris Institute of Political Studies.

Building a Career: Odile Decq's Journey

Odile Decq opened her own architecture firm in 1979. Her future partner, Benoît Cornette, was studying medicine at the time. In 1985, Cornette also earned an architecture degree. Then, they started their architecture company together, called ODBC.

One of their first big projects was the Banque Populaire de l’Ouest in Rennes, France. They worked with engineer Peter Rice on this building in 1990. This project won them many awards and made them known worldwide. It was the first office building in France made with a metal structure.

Odile Decq believes that making models is very important for her work. She and Benoît would build models with parts that could be moved. This helped them test different ideas for their buildings.

In 1998, Benoît Cornette sadly passed away in a car accident. Odile Decq continued to work under the ODBC name. But in 2013, she changed the company's name to Studio Odile Decq. She wanted to make sure she got credit for buildings she designed alone. Even after her husband's death, Decq started to experiment even more with her designs. She created some of her most famous projects. These include the Banque Populaire de l'Ouest, the Golden Lion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, and the Macro Museum in Rome. Her projects have become bigger and more complex over time.

Decq says that a building "has to be a place where people can move, live in good conditions, forget the hardness of the life outside." She believes buildings should have a "humanistic approach." This means they should be designed to help people feel good.

Odile Decq is known for her strong and unique style. She has won many awards for her work. In 1996, she received the Golden Lion of Architecture at the Venice Biennale of Architecture. This award recognized her early and unusual career. Her work includes not just buildings, but also city planning, design, and art. In 2016, she won the Jane Drew Prize. In 2017, she received Architizer's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Teaching and Inspiring: Odile Decq's Schools

Since 1992, Odile Decq has been a professor at the École Spéciale d'Architecture in Paris. In 2007, she became the head of the Architecture Department there. She left in 2012 to start her own school. In 2014, she opened the Confluence Institute for Innovation and Creative Strategies in Architecture in Lyon, France. You can find more about it at www.confluence.eu.

Decq wants her students to be independent thinkers. She encourages them to "express themselves strongly and very clearly." Since 2019, her school is in Paris. It was approved by the "Royal Institute of British Architects" (RIBA) in 2017.

This school allowed Decq to share her unique design ideas with students. It helps future architects be creative and solve problems in new ways. Her school encourages young architects to take risks. It teaches them not to just follow old rules and ideas.

Designing Beyond Buildings: Art and Furniture

More than 20 years ago, Odile Decq started designing furniture. She created chairs and tables for the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. Since then, she has designed new items for many of her projects. For example, she developed new lamps for the Luceplan company.

Odile Decq loves and collects modern art. In 2007, she had her first art exhibition in Paris. She often uses ideas from her architecture in her art. For example, she created prints that show how her buildings are put together.

She has also created art installations. In 2018, she made two installations for the Venice Biennale. One was called "Phantom's Phantom." She also has a traveling exhibition called "Horizons."

Famous Projects: Odile Decq's Notable Works

Here are some of the important buildings and projects Odile Decq has worked on:

• 1990 – Banque populaire de l’Ouest (BPO) in Rennes, France. This building has offices and social centers.
• 1996 – She designed the French pavilion for the Venice Biennale of Architecture.
• 1998 – A training center, library, and science building for the University of Nantes.
• 1999 – A viaduct (bridge) and operation center for the A14 motorway in Nanterre, France.
• 2001 – She redesigned the UNESCO Conference Hall in Paris, France, and its furniture.
• 2010 – MACRO, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome, Italy. She worked on its expansion and renovation.
• 2011 – PHANTOM, the L'Opéra Restaurant inside the famous Opéra Garnier in Paris, France.
• 2012 – FRAC Bretagne, a regional modern art fund building in Rennes, France.
• 2014 – GL Events Headquarters in Lyon, France.
• 2015 – Pentania, a mix of homes and apartments in Lille, France.
• 2015 – Fangshan Tangshan National Geopark Museum in Nanjing, China. This museum is about geology and anthropology.
• 2015 – She renovated Maison Bernard, also known as Antti Lovag's Bubble Palace, in Théoule-sur-Mer, France.
• 2015 – The Confluence Institute for Innovation and Creative Strategies in Architecture in Lyon, France. She renovated this school building.
• 2016 – Le CARGO, an office building and startup incubator in Paris, France.
• 2020 – Antares building in Barcelona, Spain.

Awards and Recognitions: Odile Decq's Honors

Odile Decq has received many awards for her amazing work. Here are some of them:

• 1990 – Nominated for the Prix de l’Équerre d’Argent.
• 1990 – Won the Architecture and Working Space Award - AMO.
• 1990 – Received the Premier Award, Ninth International Prize for Architecture, London.
• 1991 – Won the International Award of Architecture Andrea Palladio.
• 1996 – Awarded the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale of Architecture with Benoît Cornette.
• 1996 – Won the Best Steel Construction Awards for the Banque Popularie de l’Ouest.
• 2001 – Became a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, France.
• 2003 – Became a Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honor, France.
• 2007 – Became an International Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, RIBA.
• 2013 – Won the Women in Architecture Prize from ARVHA.
• 2013 – Named MAISON&OBJET Designer of the Year.
• 2015 – Received an honorary doctorate in architecture from Université Laval.
• 2016 – Won the Jane Drew Prize from the Architects' Journal.
• 2017 – Received the Architizer A+Awards — Lifetime Achievement Award.
• 2018 – Won the European Cultural Centre Architecture Award, Venice.

See also

In Spanish: Odile Decq para niños