Plan A, les voies des architectes
the podcast exploring the diversity of architectural paths and practices, by Garance Sornin and Imma Sierra
mercredi 01 octobre 2025Podcast
Through a series of interviews, Plan A highlights, in each episode, a singular approach to the discipline and reveals the plurality of architects' know-how. Far from a single, fixed vision, these accounts show how architecture unfolds in multiple fields, in dialogue with cultural, social and technical issues.
Join us every month to discover a new profile. trailer
Episode 01
Margaux Darrieus, journalist, teacher and researcher
Margaux Darrieus is a graduate of the Lille School of Architecture and Landscape and the Lille Institute of Political Studies, with a specialization in journalism. More recently, she became a doctor after defending her thesis at the VTT Doctoral School - for Towns, Transport and Territories - at Paris-Est University.
On a day-to-day basis, she has not one but several jobs: architecture journalist, teacher at ENSA Paris Malaquais and researcher. She is also an exhibition curator.
Episode 02
Philippe Villeneuve, ACMH Notre-Dame de Paris
A graduate of the Paris-Conflans School of Architecture, Philippe Villeneuve has been a heritage guardian for over 25 years. He began his career as head architect for Monuments Historiques in Charente, then Creuse, before overseeing major projects such as the restoration of La Rochelle town hall and the Domaine national de Chambord.
In 2013, he was appointed head of Notre-Dame de Paris. He knows every nook and cranny, every secret, and every weakness of this stone giant.
But on April 15, 2019, the unthinkable happens. Philippe Villeneuve had to demonstrate extraordinary adaptability in the face of the fire disaster. He became a central pillar of the cathedral's reconstruction.
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Episode 03
Jean-Baptiste Marie, Managing Director of GIP EPAU and Julie Maillard, Architect-Urbanist and Landscape Designer
Jean-Baptiste Marie is Managing Director of GIP EPAU, the Groupement d'Intérêt Public Europe des Projets Architecturaux et Urbains.
Julie Maillard is founder of Suo, a young agency distinguished by its transdisciplinary approach to architecture, landscape and territory.
Together, they embody two essential facets of the discipline: Jean-Baptiste Marie, on the foresight, research and experimentation side, piloting national programs such as POPSU (Plate-forme d'Observation des Projets et Stratégies Urbaines), Europan and Quartiers de Demain.
And Julie Maillard, on the practical side, with a track record of success: twice winner of the Europan competition, but also of the FAIRE 2023 prize. These distinctions testify to her innovative vision, born of her dual training as an architect-urban planner and landscape architect.
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Episode 04
Laetitia Gardin, Emergency Architects Foundation
Laetitia Gardin is a graduate of the Strasbourg School of Architecture. She began her career in local architecture firms, before moving on to the Rey-Lucquet studio, where she discovered the public-interest nature of public commissions. This experience marked a turning point in her career.
Ten years later, she went freelance and joined forces with Patrick Coulombel, founder of the association Architectes de l'urgence. Her first mission: to support the training of architects in Afghanistan, after 20 years of war, by setting up a computer workshop in Kabul for graduating students.
Emergency Architects are those who arrive a few days or weeks after a disaster: hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, and sometimes even explosions... They work alongside the affected populations, designing and building structures adapted to the risks.
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Episode 05
Gaelle Cozic and Fantine Pingot, Villages Vivants Cooperative
Gaëlle Cozic is a graduate of the Paris Val de Seine School of Architecture. After a short stint in an agency and a commitment to doctoral research, she found her true calling in the stages that precede architectural design. Today, she is in charge of territorial support and social utility measurement at Villages Vivants, a rural and solidarity-based real estate cooperative.
Fantine Pingot is a graduate of the Clermont Ferrand School of Architecture, a school renowned for its relationship with the countryside. A detour via Armenia, five years in an agency, then an entrepreneur in programming and project management assistance: a busy start to her career, before becoming, alongside Gaëlle Cozic, the project manager, from design to construction supervision.
Villages Vivants is much more than just a private landlord. It's a structure that raises funds not for speculation, but to buy, renovate and rent out properties in the countryside and deserted town centers of the south-east quarter of France. It's a rural approach, rooted in the local community, but above all one of profound solidarity. Villages Vivants' priority is to support socially committed initiatives that respond to the real needs of local communities.
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Episode 06
Josselin Lutz, Architect and winemaker
Josselin Lutz is a graduate of the Strasbourg School of Arts and Industry, now the local INSA. After starting out as a salaried member of several teams, he decided to take over an existing architectural practice, alongside fellow architects Laurent Fleury and Nicolas Parent.
Since Strasbourg, Oslo Architectes has been deploying a pragmatic vision of architecture. Taking advantage of context, focusing on use, overcoming constraints: everything is designed to create a unique narrative for each location and each program. In fifteen years, the firm has grown from 3 to 9 associates and from 15 to 65 employees, without abandoning its principles.
At the same time, with winemaker Arthur Bohn, he founded the L'Au-delà winery, born of a need to reconnect with manual labor and the living. Here, he explores another form of creation, this time in contact with vines and wine.
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Episode 07
Emmanuelle Duplay, Set designer and chief decorator
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Episode 08
Thomas Sindicas, Visual artist
Thomas Sindicas graduated from the Paris-Val de Seine School of Architecture in 2015. It was during the course of his final year that his interest in drawing and cartography really took off.
Since then, his work as a visual artist has been a constant exploration of the territory. He tackles the various themes of the city, in particular that of the border, with a series of drawings and collages of the gates of Paris. His approach is intrinsically linked to his training in architecture: he probes urban dynamics and brings a sensitive reading to them, transcribing them sometimes in the form of aerial views, sometimes in more abstract compositions.
On a day-to-day basis, he works mainly for architecture and urban planning agencies. Between 2019 and 2024, for example, he coordinated the activities of the Villa Belleville, a City of Paris establishment dedicated to the visual arts and deeply involved in neighborhood life. His plastic arts practice has even led him to work in prisons.
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Imma Sierra is an architect who graduated from Ensa Paris-Est in 2017. After five years' experience with Martin Duplantier Architectes, she launched her own business to create projects that are as close as possible to the users, with a particular interest in the issue of access to freshness in public spaces. Since 2022, Imma has devoted part of her time to teaching at architecture schools.
Garance Sornin is an architect who graduated from Ensa Paris-Est in 2018. Since her Master's degree, she has practiced architecture through writing and mediation, working as a specialized journalist for the editorial team of AMC Architecture magazine. This practice continues to accompany her at Atelier Krauss Architecture, where she designs and creates buildings and/or renovations for a variety of programs, focusing on user comfort in both the short and long term.
Plan A
Discover the trailer
A new episode every month on Spotify
Concept and direction
Imma Sierra and Garance Sornin
Production
Ensa Paris-Est with the support of the Ministère de la Culture
Technical production and sound design Crystal Aslanian
Crystal Aslanian
Video
La Brique Films
Ensa Paris-Est 2025
