EXHIBITION: CASTELNAUDARY, EXISTING IN PROJECT

On Friday, October 16 and Saturday, October 17, architecture students question and imagine new uses to build differently and inhabit tomorrow.
The students present plans, models, and drawings of projects that balance cost-effectiveness and innovation to meet societal and environmental demands.
Transform rather than demolish, compose rather than reconstruct: an exhibition of projects by architecture students from ENSA Toulouse!
Final year projects (PFE) 2025 and 2026 from the workshop: Architecture, a necessary good, supervised by the teaching team: Jean-François Marti, Franck Martinez, Élisabeth Polzella, Clément Prévot, Florent Roucoules, and Olivier Gonzalez.
What if the city of tomorrow began with what already exists?
In the face of climate challenges and the need to reduce the environmental impact of construction, architecture students from the École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Toulouse (ENSA Toulouse) have been invited to focus on existing buildings and local resources. In Castelnaudary, they explore a different way of conceiving architectural projects: transforming rather than demolishing, rehabilitating rather than reconstructing, revealing the qualities of the ordinary. Based on concrete situations, their proposals question the fundamentals of architecture: the relationship to the ground, light, uses, structure, cost-effectiveness, and the links between interior and exterior. They also highlight the resources of the territory, such as wood from the Montagne Noire, stone from Sidobre and Castelnaudary, raw earth, and brick, as levers to imagine a more sober, more sustainable architecture that is more attentive to its environment.
Large scale is not at the heart of the subject. The choice has been made to approach urban reflection through the multiplication of proposals and their ability to stimulate a dynamic of transformation. This approach unfolds in various contexts: peri-urban areas, city entrances, vacant centralities, buildings awaiting reuse...
Plans, models, drawings, and photographs showcase a generation of projects that seek not only to build differently but to fully consider what already exists. Between attention to context, innovation, and responsibility, this exhibition invites everyone to discover how architecture can become a necessary good, serving territories and their inhabitants.
Students from the workshop: Judline Alcinay, Carolina Antonini, Lisa Astié, Yousra Ben Hadj Yahia, Anna Bourges, Thomas Derousseaux, Ahmadou Diallo, Charlotte Durade, Salah Ettajani, Dominique Evina, Axelle Haas, Erwane Haidar, Aron Hattenschwiler, Clara Inesta, Montse Jimenez, Estelle Journet, Théo Joubert, Clara Lucchetti-Moretti, Rémi Manriquez, Ambre Marcon, Camille Martel, Dang Bao Thu Nguyen, Tam Nhu Nguyen, Adrian Nicolcea, Adrien Nouel, Luciano Patrice, Elsa Pihan, Tician Poujade, Alix Prévot, Laura Pruvost, Ninon Rolland, Thu Vu Thanh, and Anne Untersee.
Event by the École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Toulouse, with the support of DRAC Occitanie and the municipality of Castelnaudary.
On Friday, October 16, open to the public from 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM. The opening will take place from 6:00 PM. And the guided tour at 6:00 PM. Then on Saturday, October 17 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM with the guided tour at 1:30 PM.

Find all practical information and plan your visit.