Everyday Architecture

samedi 18 octobre 2025

Ateliers
Visites guidées
Expositions
Jeune public

Every year, the school opens its doors for National Architecture Days, offering a varied programme of workshops, guided tours, activities and exhibitions for the general public. This year, the theme ‘Architecture of Everyday Life’ focuses on structures often perceived as mundane, yet which shape our daily lives and everyone’s living environment.

WORKSHOPS

Raw Earth
An introduction to clay through a beginner’s pottery workshop, during which young and old alike will have the chance to shape an object of their choice to take home.
Suitable for all ages, free entry

On the trail of architecture studies
A treasure hunt featuring puzzles, surprises and hands-on activities that engage the senses and the imagination. This trail offers families a fun introduction to architecture studies, culminating in a hands-on project.
Suitable for all ages, free entry

Lego® / magic sand
Young and old alike are invited to design a house that meets specific climatic requirements, using two building materials of their choice: Lego® and magic sand.
Suitable for all ages, free entry

Kapla® Challenge
Alone or in a team, take on the challenge of building the tallest residential tower using wooden planks from the Landes region. The design is up to you, but be careful with the balance – it could be fatal.
All ages welcome, free entry

Storytelling
Storytelling for little ones at the library with Zohra Bedreddine, coordinator of the Cité Descartes’ Bibliothèques Ouvertes+ network.
All ages welcome, free entry

TOURS

School tour
Designed by architect Bernard Tschumi, the school has, since its opening in 1999, offered a quality of space conducive to both concentration and interaction. A tour of the school, its workshops and the library accompanied by a student.
Tours depart at 1.15pm, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm; duration 30 mins.
Free, open to all

Tour of the Cité Descartes campus
Recognised as a hub for sustainable urban development, the Cité Descartes campus in Champs-sur-Marne brings together, on a site covering over 120 hectares, three prestigious higher education institutions and numerous facilities belonging to Gustave Eiffel University, all featuring remarkable architecture. Come and discover them on a guided tour led by a student from the school.
Tours depart at 1.45 pm, 2.45 pm and 3.45 pm; duration: 45 mins, subject to favourable weather conditions.
Free, open to all

EXHIBITIONS

Martinique-Demain
This virtual digital exhibition showcases the work carried out over the past seven years by DSA students on the Martinique coastline. Focusing on the consequences of climate change, the students have proposed long-term adaptation solutions. To mark National Architecture Days, the exhibition will present illustrated stories printed on large-format textiles. This project, led by the agency meat architectures et territoires in collaboration with multimedia narrator Matthieu Pajot and web developer Solal Dussout-Revel, was carried out as part of the ‘The Coastline as a Territory for Projects’ Chair (Observatoire de la condition suburbaine laboratory). more information

Archetypes of Housing: First-Year Students’ Projects
This exhibition showcases the first two exercises from the first semester:

• Messages/Enclosures, the result of an intensive week in which the construction of a full-scale enclosure on a real site was followed by a survey and its geometric drawing by hand,
• Assemblies/Roofs, a four-week project in which the construction of a 1:20 scale model served as a means to understand the behaviour and expressive potential of different materials and resources.

Model Exhibition
A retrospective of student work presented at the Orangery of the Château de Champs-sur-Marne during the 2025 European Heritage Days.

Suitable for all ages, free admission