Canadian project honoured at 2026 Festival des Architectures Vives

A Canadian project was among the winners honoured at the 2026 Festival des Architectures Vives (FAV) in Montpellier, France.

Among this year’s winners was THE CONTINUUM AS A SPACE-TIME, which also received the Jury’s Favourite Mention. The installation was created by Université Laval Master of Architecture students Charles-Antoine Lauzon and Marie-Laurence Durand of Québec, Canada, under the mentorship of Agence Spatiale.

This special anniversary edition, held from June 9 to 14, featured 13 installations. The festival invited several teams from previous editions to serve as mentors.

The FAV continues to attract a growing audience. From 3,500 visitors in 2006, attendance surpassed 13,000 visitors in both the 2023 and 2024 editions. In 2025, the festival exceeded 16,000 visitors for the first time. The 2026 edition welcomed nearly 18,000 visitors, setting a new attendance record.

Over the past two years, the Festival des Architectures Vives has reflected on the role of patronage within the festival, inviting personalities from fields beyond architecture who share values of creativity, transmission, and local roots. This approach seeks to broaden perspectives on architecture by placing it in dialogue with other disciplines.

For the 2026 edition, dedicated to the theme of “Transmission,” the festival chose Julien Tuffery as its patron.

The collaboration between Lauzon and Durand began at the start of their university studies at Laval, driven by a shared passion to push the boundaries of architecture. Together, they explored new ways of experiencing space, believing that simple details could open up new possibilities and foster a more engaged, experimental approach to architecture. The project was developed under the mentorship of Agence Spatiale, represented by Marianne Charbonneau and Étienne Bernier, themselves former participants in the FAV in 2011 and 2015.

At the helm of the family workshop, Julien Tuffery represents the fourth generation of master tailors and garment makers. Together with his partner Myriam, he continues to develop the company by combining heritage and modernity through local production, responsible material sourcing, and innovation in both design and use.

Through his professional journey, Julien Tuffery illustrates a contemporary approach to transmission. For him, transmission is not an abstract concept: it is experienced daily in the workshop, through dialogue between generations, and through the ability to preserve a craft while adapting it to contemporary challenges.

As described by the festival, transmission is not about preserving the past unchanged; it is about giving it a future.

By welcoming Julien Tuffery as patron, the FAV highlighted a vision of creativity deeply rooted in the long term that connects generations, values craftsmanship, and shows that innovation can emerge from heritage.