Elodie Jacquaniello: HM of the Cyclist House

+ Elodie Jacquaniello 🇫🇷

Honourable Mention of the Cyclist House

Portfolio: https://www.non-a.com/members/gaia-elodie/

1) Could you briefly introduce yourself?

I am a French architect-designer who graduated from the Ecole Nationale d’Architecture de Versailles. Just after university, I decided to move to Japan in 2020. At first, the idea was to travel around, but I ended up finding a work opportunity in Tokyo where I have been living ever since. I am currently part of an international office, participating in diverse projects (Gaia Architect), and I enjoy next to my professional career doing a personal project of illustrations combining my interests in architecture and cinema.

2) What inspired you for the Cyclist House?

When I read the brief about the Cyclist House, I immediately knew I wanted to work on an urban scale. It was for me evident that to promote cycling as a lifestyle, my project needed to get people to cycle. That’s why I decided to design multiple small architectures people could visit by cycling from one to another and that will also respond to their need during this journey.

3) Can you describe any particular challenges you faced during the design process and how
you overcame them?

I think it can be hard during a competition to develop a design without any feedback coming from clients, teachers or whoever could help you to question and improve what you are doing. I found help from a friend -who despite having nothing to do with the architecture field- is very passionate about cycling and she helped me to understand better what was the cycling lifestyle and to develop the program of my proposition.

4) How do you think your educational background or professional experiences influenced your winning design?

I would say that my past experiences helped me to develop my own graphic style to communicate my ideas in the best way. The Cyclist House Competition was especially challenging as the submission was a single image and I needed to find how to summarize the project so it would be clear at first sight.

5) What advice would you give to students or young professionals looking to excel in architecture competitions?

Participating in a Competition was for me a great opportunity to face new problematics that I don’t have the chance to encounter the rest of the time, and I would recommend using competitions as an experimental field. I think it is a good way to ask ourselves new questions, to improve and to try new approaches that will then beneficially influences our regular practice of architecture.

6) What are your future aspirations in the field of architecture?

I hope I can continue to grow as an architect in my professional career and in my side projects. I also wish to participate in the future to more competitions as it was a very beneficial experience.

CYCLOMANIA