Dezeen School Shows: a series of pavilions along an abandoned Parisian railway, designed to engage the senses, are among the architectural proposals from students at Architectural Institute Paris.
Also featured is an architectural archive set in Pluto and Mars, and a proposal to redesign Venice in Italy.
Architectural Institute of Paris
Institution: Architectural Institute of Paris
School: School of Architecture
Course: Advanced Diploma in Architecture
Tutors: Henry Beech Mole, Bessie Lemann, Harry Postins and Mazen Alameddin
School statement:
“The Architectural Institute is a centre for international architectural discourse, education and research in Paris.
“The institute’s primary activity is as a private school of architecture and interior design. It also hosts public events, exhibitions, lectures and book publications as part of its mission to advance international discourse on architecture and design in the city of Paris.
“The School of Architecture at the institute is pedagogically radical and experimental, created in response to the profound changes over the last decade, and the changing nature of architectural practice today.
“The incubative pedagogical model at the institute, which places emphasis on each students’ individual ideas and research, critically engages with the contradiction and dilemma of the world today, critiquing intrenched design values to pose alternative ‘narrative-fictions’.
“The School of Architecture post-graduate course is, by virtue of the culture of the school and the international background of its founders and staff, the only genuinely international English-speaking architecture school in Paris.
“Moving away from the instructive pedagogical methods of the past, it is a place for the incubation and development of each student’s individual ideas, situated within the context of a support network of practicing architects and designers.”
The Invisible Thin by Khôi Đặng Minh
“In a future where geopolitical tensions, cyber vulnerability and climate crises destabilise global communication networks, how might the decentralisation of data infrastructure – drawing from models of public connection – evolve vital hubs for data resilience and information sharing to create cultural value for local communities?
“This project is a critical design project that speculates on the future of communication networks in a world where global connectivity is permanently destabilised due to geopolitical conflicts, cyberattacks and natural disasters.
“It envisions a decentralised framework where local communities rely on district-specific satellites and data ground stations to maintain resilient, autonomous and equitable access to information.”
Student: Khôi Đặng Minh
Course: Advanced Diploma in Architecture
Tutors: Harry Postins, Bessie Lemann and Mazen Alameddin
Absolute Nothing and All by Robert Denburg Tenenbaum
“Absolute Nothing and All is a critical design project that physically stages the reunification of church and state for a return to self, which might be called spirituality.
“Based on Sildenafil Mortar for the Pneuma – a play in four parts that follows the consummation between a judge and a priest, as a personifications of legal and religious authority.
“The building makes manifest the coming together of church and state, arguing they never truly separated, only mirrored through one another as two faces of the same sovereign form.
“The insertion of a 60-metre-tall structure into one of Paris’s most historically saturated locations – Square du Vert-Galant – is an act of architectural irreverence, a direct challenge to France’s identity.”
Student: Robert Denburg Tenenbaum
Course: Advanced Diploma in Architecture
Tutor: Henry Beech Mole
Legacy by Chloe LaFleur
“Set in a speculative near-future, Legacy explores the future of architecture, branding and politics. Following the US departure from NATO and the radical reconstruction of citizenship requirements, the project imagines the architectural outcome of a near future scenario, in which France cedes part of its capital city to the USA in a transaction to settle the Marshall Plan debt.
“With tensions rising, the United States demands that France repay its post-WWII Plan Aid through real estate. The result is a land grab, with its expansion serving as an extension for control abroad.
“Through mapping, site analysis and speculative interventions, this project examines how a historically cosmopolitan city is able to adapt to the influx of exiled Americans, as well as the spatial consequences of ideological governance abroad.
“Legacy prompts the viewer to question the apparent irreconcilability of the societal extremes of peoples linked by a common nationality. Of woke American expatriates living their Parisian dream 183 days a year and of the debased culture of the MAGA Republican, tech-bro, super rich, when they ultimately share a symbiotic fate.
“Through the experience of this architectural proposal, we can begin to critically question the apparent value systems of the people who brought about the election of the current administration, and of the state of the American nation today, as a dark mirror through which its characteristics and desires are reflected.”
Student: Chloe LaFleur
Course: Advanced Diploma in Architecture
Tutor: Henry Beech Mole
Echoes of Departure by Nondumiso Langa
“Echoes of Departure explores the profound impact of colonisation on the environment, highlighting deforestation, habitat destruction and biodiversity loss.
“In response to Pluto’s rare transit in 2025, the project creates an architectural archive of human history, warning future generations about the dangers of destructive behaviours.
“Set in a future where humans have occupied Mars and abandoned Earth, the project invites tourists to engage with historic events and cautionary messages, serving as a reflection on humanity’s legacy.”
Student: Nondumiso Langa
Course: Advanced Diploma in Architecture
Tutors: Harry Postins, Bessie Lemann and Mazen Alameddin
Shift in a Continuum by Robert McManus
“Contemporary design has stagnated. It is caught in a cycle of overproduction and fleeting trends that devalue creativity and sustainability.
“To truly progress, we must reconsider our path, drawing wisdom from history and aligning with the values that once fuelled meaningful innovation and enduring beauty. The American Ambassador’s Residence – now a site for revolution – houses a resistance training facility integrated into the building’s ruins.
“The journey begins with the augmented reality of ‘memory implantation’, starting with the Sears x Ambassadors facade. Participants are immersed in vivid stages, from flapper girls in stage two, to a 1950s Eames showroom with a chained, shaking Eames chair in stage three.
“The ‘editorial nightmare’ in stage four critiques the fashion world, with models discarded after their poses. The final stage reimagines Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet in a war-torn, crumbling space, where neon crosses flash amid shattered walls.
“The junkyard represents forgotten treasures of the past, leading to the final room – an egg of white light, symbolising awakening.”
Student: Robert McManus
Course: Advanced Diploma in Architecture
Tutors: Harry Postins, Bessie Lemann and Mazen Alameddin
City of Anti-Synapse by Miguel Mahfouz
“Set along Paris’s abandoned La Petite Ceinture railway, The City of Anti-Synapse is a speculative project that challenges our tech-saturated future by reawakening the human senses.
“In response to a world dominated by digital interaction, a series of immersive pavilions, each dedicated to smell, taste, sight, touch and sound, guides visitors through a journey from inner reflection to shared presence.
“Designed as a loop of sensory reconnection, the project transforms architecture into a temporal experience, where space and time are shaped by embodied perception and authentic human connection.”
Student: Miguel Mahfouz
Course: Advanced Diploma in Architecture
Tutors: Harry Postins, Bessie Lemann and Mazen Alameddin
Venezia Two by Alessandro Fassino
“Venezia Two is the natural evolution of a problem that shows no signs of regressing and that is, in a matter of fact, leaving an almost irreversible mark.
“Tourists have progressively replaced the residents of the historic centre of Venice, literally flooding the narrow streets of the already dense archipelago and forcing local authorities to take serious measures to safeguard this treasure of humanity.
“Venezia Two is a critical design project that reflects on the future of tourism and architectural preservation by proposing a second Venice to ‘save’ the original from flooding and excess tourism.”
Student: Alessandro Fassino
Course: Advanced Diploma in Architecture
Tutor: Henry Beech Mole
Partnership content
This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and Architectural Institute Paris. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
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