Odile Decq
Odile Decq (1954-) is an important French architect known for her buildings with bold and dynamic shapes. Her formal research is based on the concept of “hypertension”, in which surfaces and spaces are modelled according to an extreme formal tension made of elongated angles and irregular lines with the aim of creating an illusion of movement. Also highly recognisable in her unmistakable goth look, Odile Decq is a true 360° intellectual and has led the Special School of Architecture in Paris since 2007. Her professional career began in 1985 with the founding of the ODBC studio together with her partner Benoît Cornette (1953-1998), and saw her first major international success with the construction of the Banque Populaire de l'Ouest in Rennes (1990), the first office building in France to be built with a metal structure. This was followed by the victory of the Golden Lion at the VI International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale (1996) and acclaimed projects such as the MACRO – Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome (completed in 2010) or the Phantom restaurant at the Opéra Garnier in Paris. Like many other archistars, she has also made sporadic appearances in the world of product design, in particular for the Italian brands Luceplan and Alessi.