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the outside world (contracting authority, consultants,
users, government offices, companies, etc.) connects
with the project being created by our organisation.
During these meetings, two things can happen: either
the project is found to be legitimate and can be devel-
oped further, or it encounters justifiable opposition and
has to be redirected.
Each meeting is the subject of a systematic report.
These reports become the primary tools for the admin-
istrative and technical management of the project.
There are three types of meetings, which happen at
different intervals:
- Management meetings, in the presence of the
contracting authority, which deal with subjects of con-
cern only to the contracting authority and the authors
of the project; these take place prior to the execution
of the project, but may well continue during the
execution phase;
- Design meetings, which concern programming,
as well as architectural and technical design;
- Site meetings.
Management meetings are generally held once a
month. Design meetings (programming and design) are
held on a mandatory weekly basis until acceptance of
the pre-project phase and budget approval. A second
weekly meeting, more oriented towards end-users, is
usually integrated into the schedule during the program-
ming phase. These become bi-monthly during the
project approval phase, and then monthly during the
on-site phase. They often merge with management
meetings and serve to keep everyone up-to-date about
the progress of work on site. Plenary site meetings are
held daily starting from the date the work is ordered
from the contractors. In addition to the meeting reports,
a rolling brief is drawn up. This brings together every
documented element that has been validated and
approved in meetings. This document therefore evolves
from week to week, and outdated elements are gradu-
ally replaced with newer versions. During the design
phase, the brief contains all the documents required to
get an overview of the status of the project, and dur-
ing the on-site phase, it reminds us of why this or that
decision was made. Naturally, at the end of the project,
the brief also contains the full set of relevant documents
for the upkeep of the building. All of the documents
relating to the various projects are classified using the
ci
/
s
f
b
classification system and numbered sequentially
over the entire course of the project: starting with the
management and design meeting reports, then the
specifications, site surveys and allocation drawings, and
finally the reports on site meetings and the blueprints
furnished by the companies and the ‘as-built’ files. The
graphic design elements (rough sketches, blueprint
plans, sketches and others) are also sequentially dated
and numbered, each number preceded by ‘
dc
’ (concep-
tual drawing). In the same way, the study and presenta-
tion models are systematically photographed and added
to the file. We go so far as to include sketches done
in coloured chalk on the meeting room blackboard dur-
ing the projects, which are photographed, given a ‘
dc
’
number, dated and placed in the file.
The numbering of the layers for all drawings and the
codification of the numbering of blueprints is also
strictly organised using the
ci
/
s
f
b
classification system.
This allows us to check at any moment if all the infor-
mation is there. Every new element is added to the file,
without any selective process. Once a project is fin-
ished the entire set of documents is carefully archived
and numbered and a copy is given to the contracting
authority. The rigour of this organisation is all the more
critical when the project includes a higher density of
technical infrastructures and involves a larger number
of participants. The goal is to allow for the regular
transfer – to the contracting authority or any other
stakeholder – of the precise information that he or she
may need.
You produce an enormous amount of drawings and
models in the process of constructing buildings that
bear your artistic stamp. Do you consider these docu-
ments and objects to be works of art in their own right?
P.S.
In the beginning, we produced graphic documents
with a practical goal: to perfect the project and make
it understandable. Thus, the models are the basic ele-
ments in the creation of a project because they allow
the viewer to maintain complete flexibility of movement
when first encountering the building. This is something