The objective of the studio was to develop skills in the thermal renovation and transformation of a detached house with a garden, typical of Geneva’s suburban environments, in response to contemporary climatic and health challenges. This approach invites us to rethink the interior of the home by considering the multiple historical and contemporary interactions between its human inhabitants and the other living beings that compose it.

What if the “non-human” inhabitants of the interiors depicted in historical paintings – cats, dogs, flowers, fish – had not been introduced merely for decoration, but to make the home more habitable? Cats protected food stores from mice, dogs guarded the house, lavender kept moths away, and fish helped control mosquitoes. During the twentieth century, many of these functions were replaced by more efficient chemical and technological systems, which also proved to be more polluting and, in some cases, harmful to human health.

At a time when thermal renovation is profoundly transforming homes, the studio explored why their interior ecology should also be reconsidered. Current knowledge of the microbiome and the symbiotic relationships between humans, animals, plants, and microorganisms challenge the ideal of the perfectly sterile interior described by Beatriz Colomina. What if the floor of a child’s bedroom was designed to enrich the child’s microbiome rather than simply to be easy to clean?

Drawing on scientific and architectural research, students explored how living organisms could once again become a material of the renovation project, contributing to the comfort, health, and environmental performance of the home. The ambition was to imagine renovated “probiotic” houses, where living systems played an active role in the functioning of architecture.

Students: Estelle Chautant, Elisa Grange, Noémie Iten, Alix Légeret, Zélie Liou, Nadia Rouèche, Aurèle Eliseo Stauffer, Emma Maïwenn Tribolet, Evgeniia Cheseaux, Kayla Nanton, Morgane Nicolas, Daniel Pereira, Alexia Dahman, Nassim Baron, Alexis Lang, Bryan Reyes, Yan Vasquez Mayo, Camille Bodin