perrault

dominique

sketches
A sketch is, by defini0on, immediate, crude,
imprecise, in some ways it is ante-architectural. It
is a stage of fixa0on, stability. They don’t all have
the same clarity, the same evidence. I oBen add
words. Not phrases, just single words. To make
the way they are to be interpreted clearer. The
silence, the mystery that surrounds a sketch
cons0tutes a space in which thought is free.

Dominique Perrault, in: Moleskin Notebook,
“Dominique Perrault Architecture,” 2013

When I draw, I think, talk, erase, switch from
the plan to the sec0on, try again, add words to
some lines. An illustrated choreography of
thought in mo0on. It’s a process, a journey,
more than a result. My drawings are the
expression of a conceptual direc0on that has
already been contextualised, localised,
situated. They are not abstrac0ons.

/Dominique Perrault, in: Moleskin Notebook,
“Dominique Perrault Architecture,” 2013
Teaching Bridge, École Polytechnique Fédérale
de Lausanne, Switzerland, 2011-17 ©
Dominique Perrault / DPA / Adagp
New Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg, Russia,
2003 © Dominique Perrault / DPA / Adagp
DC Towes I+II, Vienna, Austria, 2004-13/16 ©
Dominique Perrault / DPA / Adagp
ME Barcelona Hotel, Barcelona, Spain,
1999-2008 © Dominique Perrault / DPA /
Adagp
Fukoku Tower, Osaka, Japan, 2007-10 ©
Dominique Perrault / DPA / Adagp
Na0onal Library of France, Paris, France,
1989-95 © Dominique Perrault / DPA / Adagp
NH-Fieramilano Hotel, Milan, Italy, 2006-09 ©
Dominique Perrault / DPA / Adagp
Olympic Tennis Center, Madrid, Spain, 2002-09
© Dominique Perrault / DPA / Adag
iazza Garibaldi, Naples, Italy, 2004-14 ©
Dominique Perrault / DPA / Adagp
Sanctuary of Notre-Dame du Laus, France,
2012 © Dominique Perrault / DPA / Adagp
When contempla0ng Perrault’s sketches, we
are able to localize such basic architecture
themes; as for instance the rela0onship
between the building and the site. We may see
this in his sketches for the Teaching Bridge in
Lausanne or the Arganzuela Footbridge in
Madrid, both projects emphasizing a
rela0onship between the construc0on and the
horizontality of landscape, be it the Lac Léman
in Lausanne or the Río Manzanares in Madrid.
Dominique Perrault’s architecture links the
conceptual with the poe0c. Clear geometric
shapes are combined, contrasted, shiBed, and
even deconstructed in order to create new
spa0al sensa0ons. The choice of certain shapes
reflect the func0onal program of a project in
vigorous dialogue with the surrounding
landscape or urban fabric.