Since the 1980s, the architect, city planner and scenographer Patrick Bouchain has been committed to “building differently”, by basing the legitimacy of each artistic, architectural, or urban project on a substantial analysis of contexts and necessities, on the reduction of resources (“making more with less”), while always keeping users at the heart of the design process. In 1986, he founded the studio Construire with Loïc Julienne and Nicole Concordet, Sébastien Eymard, Chloé Bodart, Denis Favret, which defends and offers "HQH" ("High Human Quality") architecture. He is well known for refurbishing Brownfield sites into “cultural factories”, such as the Magasin in Grenoble (1985), the Lieu Unique in Nantes (1999), and the Condition Publique in Roubaix (2003), and is also the architect behind, among other projects, the Théâtre Zingaro in Aubervilliers and the Académie des arts du cirque in Saint-Denis.
Patrick Bouchain has collaborated with many contemporary artists, such as Daniel Buren (“Les deux plateaux” in the courtyard of the Palais-Royal, 1986), Bartabas (Celebration of the Battle of Valmy, 1989), Joseph Kosuth (Figeac, 1989), Claes Oldenburg (“Le vélo enseveli”, Parc de la Villette, 1990), and Jean-Luc Vilmouth (“Comme deux tours”, Châtelleraut, 1994). He oversaw the Ferris Wheel show on the Champs-Elysées in Paris for the New Year 2000 celebrations and was a special guest at the 2006 Venice Architecture Biennale. Patrick Bouchain taught at the Ecole Camondo in Paris from 1972 to 1974, at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Bourges from 1974 to 1981, and in Paris at the Ecole nationale de Création Industrielle, which he co-founded, from 1981 to 1983. He also served as an advisor to Jack Lang at the Ministry of Culture and to the director of the Etablissement public du Grand Louvre (1992-1994).
