Summary

Reclaiming and refurbishing older buildings for contemporary use, many of them historical landmarks, is central to the work of Bernard Reichen and Philippe Robert. Their renovations and conversions of old structures into modern living and working spaces, but also their new constructions integrated among groupings of historical buildings, have led them to develop a wide spectrum of solutions to spatial and structural challenges. Their buildings and projects have ranged from converting a New York City villa into the Cultural Institute of France to the creation of the Nestle headquarters in a riverbank setting outside of Paris. Widely familiar to the public are their conversions of factory halls into cultural centres: the "Grande Halle" in La Villette Park, the Tony Garnier Hall in Lyons and also the exhibition space "Pavillon de l'Arsenal" in Paris. They have built office, commercial and housing space in the cities and industrial regions of France, but have also worked in the USA, in the Near East and in Germany where they erected the Environmental Technology Centre in Oberhausen in conjunction with the International Building Exhibition in Emscher Park.