20 PETITES LEÇONS D’ÉCONOMIE DE MATIÈRE

A reuse handbook for all builders—students, professionals and amateurs

As the construction sector finds itself at a crossroads, confronted with the scarcity of resources and energy, our response to the energy and climate crisis too often takes the form of increased demand for materials and energy.

A shift in perspective, culture and practice has become vital. To achieve this, we must recover—and invent—new words and new gestures. By integrating reuse within a broader approach, this book offers a practical introduction to the key principles of a truly circular architecture: maintaining, caring for, repairing, reusing, recycling, drawing on local resources, and more.

Through a series of case studies, it provides an inventory of terms, actions and practical solutions aimed at reorienting the way we design projects. For each principle, a lesson is drawn from the analysis of a built project—illustrated by a drawing and accompanied by references for further exploration. The selected examples, which represent typical situations, were realised within real economic contexts.

These solutions are therefore within reach and can be implemented in practice.

20 concrete examples to finally make reuse the rule.