My parents were fortunate to find a good deal in the shape of a dilapidated old factory in the heart of Paris 11th area, back in the 80s. The factory was in a state of total abandon and it took 7 years to slowly fix it on their meager income. So from the age of 4 until 11, I grew up on a construction site. I fell in love with the energy, and the freedom to use tools around the "house" in a blue-collar neighborhood. At the very beginning, 5 of us (my parents, my granny, my brother, and myself) lived in this 30m2 (322ft2) that used to be the office of the factory - while bigger heavier construction work was going on in the factory next door. After we moved to the factory side, my elder brother took over the office for himself and had some fun student years. Eventually, he moved away, so I had the opportunity to redo this over 200 years old space - with the hope to live there for a year, and then go study abroad.
My idea was to build this house like a computer, with a motherboard principle, modular, compact, simple...
It took me 6 months, mostly alone, to redo this place on a low budget, and a futuristic and simple idea. I was doing this construction project while doing my master degree and training martial arts. Long days...
After the apartment // computer was ready, I temporarily turned it into a contemporary art gallery where I curated a show by Yoshinari Nishio "Self Select", and I wrote a Master Thesis taking advantage of this huge wall surface with a scaffolding.
I learned a lot about construction. Design, model, planning, technical drawing, construction regulations, permission, demolition, waste management, steel structure, doors, windows, mezzanine design, staircase design, plumbing, electric, insulation, painting, cabinet making, locksmithing, and more. That was just one of many construction projects to come!
I want to thanks my parents for trusting me, and also Nasser Moustakim, Martin Gautron, Pierre-Christophe Gam for their help in moments I needed help to lift things!
That's my older brother Narito, and myself, on a sand pile. Despite our young age, we helped all we could on the construction of the factory where my parents stil live.
More details about the construction process:
