AIA Continental Europe - The Restoration of a Writer’s Residence: Victor Hugo’s Hauteville House in Guernsey
Event Description
An overview of the 11-month long restoration of Victor Hugo’s house in Guernsey Island, including Hugo’s ideas and objectives of the design, the documentation of existing conditions, the system of restoration employed by the office of Riccardo Giordano, and the methods and means of construction of realizing the restoration of this unique structure on this challenging site. The presentation is followed by a short interview with Carsten Hanssen, International Associate AIA.
CES: Estimated 1 LU for AIA Members
Speaker
Riccardo Giordano, Chief Architect of Historic Monuments, Arch-R Sarl d'Architecture
Moderator: Carsten Hanssen, Intl. Assoc. AIA, Past President, AIA Continental Europe, Founder, Atelier 27
Moderator: Sophia Gruzdys, AIA, President, AIA Continental Europe; Architect, Associate Professor at USC
A graduate of "La Sapienza" University in Rome in 2002, Riccardo Giordano obtained his Heritage Architect diploma from the Chaillot Center for Advanced Studies in 2007.
After working for the Bernard Huet agency between 2002 and 2006, he began his collaboration with Pierre-André Lablaude, Chief Architect of Historic Monuments in 2006, first as project architect in his agency, then as associate architect, for numerous restoration projects, until 2018.
He founded the Architecture agency Arch-R in 2011.
Since May 2012, he has also been a consulting architect for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development.
He was Lecturer at the National School of Architecture of Paris-Belleville between 2005 and 2008, and also a technical expert for UNESCO in 2014.
Carsten Hanssen works as a historic preservation architect (DPLG) in France. Born in the Netherlands he moved to France to study architecture at the Versailles School of Architecture. Here he earned a grant for a study year at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. In 2010, he obtained a special master’s degree in preservation from the Ecole de Chaillot, Paris.
His professional career includes many restoration projects in France. He began working in the office of Pierre-André Lablaude, a chief preservation architect, where he participated in projects including the Mont Saint Michel, the Cathedral of Rouen, and the gardens of the Versailles castle.
In 2006, Hanssen set up his own studio and continues to work on prestigious projects such as, the Ceramics Manufacture in Sevres, the Town Hall of Paris’ 10th District, the Church of Auvers sur Oise, the Roman walls of Le Mans, the Chateau de Blois or the Collegial Saint Ours in Loches. His studio has two offices, one in Paris and one in Chinon, in the heart of the Loire Valley.
His work as a preservation architect in the Loire Valley has made him a specialist in stone preservation and led him to found an international center for preservation studies which is located in a former 14th century mansion, in his new hometown of Chinon. The Center for Preservation will start its first activities in the summer of 2022.
An International Associate of AIA since 2014, Carsten has served on the Board of the AIA Continental Europe and as 2018 AIA CE Chapter President. He participates regularly in international conferences and competition juries.
Sophia Gruzdys is an Architect and Associate Professor at USC. She earned her Master of Architecture with distinction from Harvard Graduate School of Design
Sophia has taught multiple levels of design studios and seminars at USC, Cornell University, and Yale, and served as the director of Undergraduate Studies in Architecture.
Her research interests include urbanism and design and architectural representation. She maintains an active professional practice and her work has been recognized by the Boston Society of Architects, HGTV, among others. Prior to establishing her practice, she was a project architect for I.M. Pei and Partners involved with the design of public buildings including the Rock’n Roll Museum in Cleveland.
Sophia is active in roles that bridge U.S. and European design interests and has organized international conferences and educational tours for architects. She contributes articles for “Architectural Record” and writes about European urbanism for “Alto Standing Living” and “Living Archaeology in Rome” of Roma Tre University.
Sophia is a registered architect in New York State, Ohio and is the 2022 President of the AIA Continental Europe Chapter.
