Brunet Saunier Architecture

Founded in 1981 in Paris, Brunet Saunier Architecture is a French leader in the design of hospitals and large-scale public buildings. This publication is much more than a monograph. It is also a professional reference work, as hospital buildings make up a large portion of the showcased projects. Over the last ten years the architectural office has been developing a successful concept known as “Monospace”. The book discusses and analyzes this concept in detail, presenting trueto- scale floor plans, cross-sections, architectural views, and other information. The Monospace concept – which is based on a process of creative reduction down to essentials, i.e. “simplexity” – is adaptive rather than normative or prescriptive, and based on probabilities rather than determinism. It respects energy, even when it sometimes uses it. It takes the individual’s experience into account, and starts from the position of the subject. It also permits changing perspectives. This design concept should attract attention far beyond the borders of France.

Phylum H' describes a very special architectural task: constructing a hospital. Brunet Saunier Architecture is dedicated to this type of research and further development. Their process is based on intensive research on the functional procedures required in medicine, social demands, and aesthetic possibilities. With these complex ideas, their plans become fascinating time capsules. On one hand, the analytical gaze looks to the past, searching for the medical, historical, and typological elements of the function of hospitals. On the other, potential new technologies, and practices for life and treatment are also examined. In the present, this results in unique buildings distinguished by a sophisticated mastery of flexible spatial structure and integrative design. They create a place for technology, knowledge, work, and social life--for both today and tomorrow. This publication discusses this unique creative process, using sketches, interviews, 3D models, blueprints, and photographs. BRUNET SAUNIER ARCHITECTURE was founded in 1981 by the architects Jérôme Brunet and Eric Saunier. The firm is primarily devoted to erecting public buildings. The successful interaction of formal and functional aspects of their hospital buildings made the architectural office famous across Europe.

Two of the most distinctive architects on the lively architectural scene in France are Jerome Brunet and Eric Saunier. Sophisticated, and refined by abstraction and minimal art, their architectural language is free from the vagaries of passing trends. Their designs have a distinctly urban feel even in projects for sites outside of the centre as with the Concert Hall and School of Music in Chalon-sur-Saone, or the recently completed rehabilitation clinic for children in Palavas-les-Flots, and thus they take a stand in the current debate about the town centre and the periphery. With their building for the Banque de France in Montpellier or the residential building near the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, they have confirmed their position at the apex of contextual architecture.

L'agence Brunet et Saunier est spécialisée dans le réagencement architectural de bâtiments publics, notamment de santé, en vue de leur donner une flexibilité et une évolutivité jusque-là impossible. Cet ouvrage présente le travail qu'ils ont accompli depuis la création de l'agence en 1994.

Founded in 1981 in Paris, Brunet Saunier Architecture is a French leader in the design of hospitals and large-scale public buildings. This publication is much more than a monograph. It is also a professional reference work, as hospital buildings make up a large portion of the showcased projects. Over the last ten years the architectural office has been developing a successful concept known as "Monospace". The book discusses and analyzes this concept in detail, presenting trueto- scale floor plans, cross-sections, architectural views, and other information. The Monospace concept -- which is based on a process of creative reduction down to essentials, i.e. "simplexity" -- is adaptive rather than normative or prescriptive, and based on probabilities rather than determinism.

The health care system is undergoing constant and increasingly rapid change, fuelled by digitalised processes, innovations in medicine and medical technology, and social upheavals. Sustainable hospital architecture must be able to keep pace with this constant regeneration. But how can this be achieved when health care buildings – with an average minimum lifespan of 20 years – appear to be an inert mass compared to the rapidly changing health care sector? How can adaptable and flexible structures be created that ensure efficient care even in crisis situations – as we experienced in the pandemic years? Volume 9 of the ‘Health Care of the Future’ series examines this question from very different perspectives: from contributions on the digital future of health care and structural planning for change to reports on visionary, international hospital concepts and research into the robotic construction methods of the future.

Behind the design and building of one of Europe's largest cancer institutes Located on the Erasme campus in Anderlecht, Belgium, the Jules Bordet Institute is one of the largest integrated cancer centers in Europe. Through texts, photographs and plans, this volume chronicles the building's planning and realization, from the initial medical vision to the arrival of its first patients.