Proto-Habitat documents a constructed architectural experiment that challenges ownership, materiality, and the meaning of dwelling — a mobile, modular prototype assembled by three people in five days and dismantled just as readily.
About This Book
Born from research initiated at the Villa Medici — Académie de France in Rome, Proto-Habitat is both a physical prototype and a provocation: what if the conditions of habitability mattered more than the conditions of production? This book traces the intellectual and material life of an ecological building that refuses permanence, instead prioritising adaptability, community, and eco-responsible living. Through interviews, site visits, paintings, objects, photographs, and architectural documentation, it maps an imagination of dwelling that sits outside the logic of property and conventional construction. Essential reading for those working at the intersection of experimental architecture, housing research, and ecological design.
Key Features
- 192 pages of interviews, architectural documentation, paintings, photographs, and exhibition records
- Edited by Flavien Menu
- Documents the Proto-Habitat, protoCAMPO, and SOLARproto demonstrator prototypes, along with exhibitions at Arc en Rêve, Collection Lambert, and CID Grand Hornu
- Published by Spector Books, 2028
What You'll Discover
- How a mobile, modular ecological structure assembled in five days by three people reframes assumptions about permanence and ownership in the built environment
- The relationship between prototype thinking and exhibition practice, traced through installations in Bordeaux, Chamonix, Rome, and the Netherlands
- How the project interrogates intangible factors of housing — solidarity, diversity, the common good — rather than defaulting to production logic
- The expanded Proto-Habitat family: the protoCAMPO events venue for 300 people at the Villa Medici gardens, and the autonomous SOLARproto on a Dutch polder
About the Author
Flavien Menu served as editor of this volume, overseeing research that originated at the Villa Medici — Académie de France in Rome. The project under his editorship generated exhibitions across multiple European institutions and three distinct built demonstrator prototypes.
Specifications
- Format: Softcover
- Pages: 192
- Dimensions: 16 × 23 cm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9783959057905
- Publisher: Spector Books
- Publication Date: 2028
Perfect For: Architects and researchers working with experimental housing typologies, ecological construction, and modular design; curators and theorists interested in the intersection of prototype culture and exhibition practice.