Architecture de Collection
Since it was created in 2007 by Delphine Aboulker and Nicolas Libert, the Architecture de Collection agency has pursued an unprecedented approach, proposing, like an art-gallery, properties signed by architects of today and yesteryear. Piloted this year by its new Director, Aurélien Vernant, the agency confirms its desire to extend its network but also its cultural and pedagogic activities, aimed at making buyers more sensitive towards architecture.
"There is a reason why children start by drawing houses : the house is an inexhaustible source of imagination, a mirror of ourselves or the person we would like to be. We identify very deeply with our homes," says Aurélien Vernant. A few months ago, this art historian and expert in architecture became Director of the Architecture de Collection agency, which proposes properties with signatures, thus offering a real trip through the various currents of the 20th century : "From Modernist and Art Deco houses to the brutalism of the concrete years and the Pop trend of the 1960's-1970's, from post-Modernism of the 1980's to the most recent period, our property portfolio traces the history of 20th-century architecture and contributes towards writing the history of tomorrow through a constant effort to support and set value on contemporary creation (thanks especially to the Archinovo Prize, created by the agency in 2011 and entirely dedicated to houses designed by architects). Our criterion is the architect's signature. A house designed by an architect is a long-term investment, just like a work of art which gains in value over time ; our clients are aware of this, they are "collectors". We in fact function like an art-gallery by ascribing value to our properties through experts' notices, which sets us apart from the codes and habits of classic estate agencies. The idea is to emphasize our difference. We are thinking about working with photographers from the art world who would look at these unusual houses in their own special way ; we are also developing a cultural dimension by proposing courses and lectures on the history of architecture. We are all concerned by architecture, it is the most important of the arts as it touches all aspects of life. My aim is thus to pursue what the agency has developed over the past 10 years by extending our network of properties and collectors, to offer a wider and more extensively documented panorama, both in France and internationally."
Architecture de Collection, 21 rue de Greneta, Paris 2 (01 53 00 97 44). www.architecturedecollection.fr
