Architecture Animée
If you are searching for fun new methods of architectural representation, look no further! The ‘Graphics Interchange Format’, or GIF, is a perfect tool as Paris-based architect, Axel de Stampa, realized, with the “Architecture Animée” series. His creative interpretations animate and shed a new light on famous contemporary designs by David Chipperfield, Estudio America, Herzog & de Meuron, MAD, Morphosis, MVRDV, Sanaa, or UNStudio.
Photography by Christian Richters, gif by Axel de Stampa.
Architecture Animée is part of 1Week1Project, a 2013 collaboration with Sylvain Macaux – both graduates of The School of Architecture of Paris-Belleville. The duo “challenged themselves to produce one ‘spontaneous architecture project’ per week“, as they state, and managed to complete 25 out of 52.
Photography by Iwan Baan, gif by Axel de Stampa.
The use of GIFs is a new approach, the architects notice. It offers the sense of motion in architecture, thus introducing the 4th dimension: time. “While the visitor doesn’t move, the building offers different perceptions, comes alive and reveals additional evidence“, they write. Axel’s ‘spontaneous project’ also helps underline the architectural concept and proves that with new technologies, come new ways of artistic representation.
Photo by Tom Arban, gif by Axel de Stampa.
Ana Cosma is an editor at Arch2O with a deep-rooted passion for architecture and urban design. Drawing on nearly a decade of architectural experience across prominent firms in Stuttgart, Germany—including Exyte, BWK.Architekten, and SCD Architekten—Ana brings a practiced eye and international perspective to her editorial work. Her academic foundation in Architecture and Urbanism from Politehnica University of Timișoara, complemented by a study period at Sapienza Università di Roma, informs her nuanced approach to exploring contemporary urban challenges and design innovations. At Arch2O, Ana curates and contributes insightful articles that bridge professional practice with emerging trends in urbanism and architectural theory.