Architecture, landscape, town, design, in Bordeaux and country, in the world, day by day, the whole year, with arc en rêve centre d’architecture. Arc en rêve centre d’architecture was founded in Bordeaux in 1981 and its mission is to stimulate cultural awareness in the fields of architecture, urban planning, landscaping and design, while also playing the role of interface working to improve the quality of the spaces we live in.

Arc en rêve’s pursuits have both a widely international and a strongly local dimension, structured around exhibitions, conferences, debates, publications, workshops for children, courses for adults, trips to visit buildings or explore towns and experimental activities in urban design. Such ventures promote contemporary architectural innovation in and around Bordeaux, the region and across the globe.

In synergy with its monographic and thematic exhibition projects, arc en rêve centre d’architecture develops meetings and workshops that are run for professionals and teachers alike, providing training and setting up contacts, and activities are also available which are specifically designed for young people and schools. These educational activities are interactive and hands-on in ethos. They encourage participants to get involved in such endeavours as touching, building, debating and inventing through the use of arc en rêve’s purpose designed teaching materials.

Arc en rêve aims:
> To foster sensitivity to contemporary urban forms, architecture, design and the landscape, and promote a high-quality approach to development initiatives.
> To provide information and training on production processes and share knowledge about new ways of developing the living environment.
> To consider the various points of view of intellectuals, artists, politicians and residents in order to improve our understanding of today’s world and to help us plan for the future of our societies.
> To undertake a commitment to the propagation of ideas and act as an interface with the political, social and economic spheres.
> To provide a forum for social communication where artists and technicians work in direct contact with words and images produced by users. Once again, our constant aim is to foster a desire for architecture, to encourage creative work, and to open people’s eyes to a changing world.

Arc en Rêve created the game “1 Bâtiment / un architecte” to learn contemporany architecture. 15 buildings by 15 architects. Thank you, it is a wonderful game!

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Here with love, a small present from us:

Bordeaux, 1829. Night. Goya died one year ago in this city.

Leocadia, Goya´s widow, is burning his letters in the chimmey. The fire crackles.

She finds a drawing behind a letter. She stares it… dozens of kids reading books, writing texts, they look happy and proud, the sunlight dances through several arcs of stones. Is it inside a building? Is it outside? No adults, just children concentrated in their tasks. Leocadia looks for a title but there is no title.

She sees several butterflies between the stone arcs, one here, other there… butterflies like dust. One kid is writing on a paper. Leocadia distinguishes some words…

“My house of dreams is my house of stones”.

She doesn´t remember when Goya drew it. The fire crackles. The clock doesn´t stop.

Leocadia leaves the drawing inside a big book.

She continues burning old letters.

(Read: Bordeaux sleeps by Jorge Raedó)