Interview by Elena Sbokou
Corsican-born architect and designer Jérôme Michelangeli founded Michelangeli Design in 2007 in Madrid, focusing on international architectural projects that emphasize creating unique living spaces.
We have the pleasure talking with Jérôme Michelangeli, an acclaimed architect and designer known for his innovative approach to sustainable and luxury architecture.
His diverse portfolio spans residential, commercial, and hospitality projects, with key works like the HELIX housing complex in Milan, part of the Santa Giulia urban redevelopment, earning him international recognition.
Named one of Europe’s 40 under 40 architects, Jérôme’s designs blend elegance, functionality, and ecological awareness, shaping the future of urban living spaces..
He gained significant recognition as one of the 40 under 40 leading European architects for his innovative impact on the urban environment, and his projects frequently incorporate eco-friendly concepts.
GDN: What inspired you to pursue a career in architecture, and how has your design philosophy evolved over the years?
Jérôme Michelangeli: My desire to become an architect goes back a long way, but what caught my eye when I made my decision was undoubtedly Lecorbusier’s tiny but remarkable project for his holiday cottage in Roquebrune Cap Martin in the South of France. It reminded me of the cabanes I tried to build during the holidays of my younger years in the Corsican hinterland, and therefore that Architecture could be everywhere and within everyone’s reach.
It was only later that I realised that the extreme simplicity and nakedness of this project was the result of many years of reflection that allowed the Maestro to get away from the superficial and get to the essential.It’s in this sense that I’m trying to develop my architecture today, while returning to the value of this Cabanon.
Integration into the context, a precise analysis of the environment, using an approach that is both poetic and ecotechnological. Poetic in the desire not to hide the structures, not to make up the materials; Eco-Technological in associating the function with technical solutions that are sometimes simple but that may require an effort of research and development that allows the maximum purification of the Project.
GDN: How do you balance aesthetic appeal with functionality in your projects? Can you share an example where this balance was particularly challenging?
J.M.: The relationship between form and function is at the heart of the studio’s work. It is governed first and foremost by the context of the project – geographical, social and programmatic. Other elements and other constraints can intervene, which curiously help us to generate the preliminary aspect of the project. The aesthetics become diverse, but in the end they’re all linked by the same search I mentioned earlier for a poetic use of materials combined with a strong eco-tech approach. There are, however, some cases that stand out. MID is currently working on the Villa Felipao project, an artist’s villa-studio for the renowned Madrid artist Felipao. His first approach is to feel that he is going to live in one of his sculptures. The sequence of the project’s development is reversed here, as the project begins with an analysis of the markers of the artist’s work, which will generate the basis for the project, to which the programmatic and contextual elements are then associated: Located to the south of Madrid, in Guadamur, near Toledo, on a 60-hectare olive grove, the project began with a long conversation between the artist and the architect about the Land Art approach. Are the walls just walls, or dynamic spaces that resonate with Olivier’s rows?
This is where the basis of the project comes from. A set of vectors deliberately oriented according to the different contextual elements of the site, allowing for privacy without the obligation to fence off the land, the orientation of the views in the perspective of the Castle of the Village of Guadamur (XV Century), the framework of the Olive Trees, the protection from the very strong winds on the elevated part of the land and the projection of a cast shadow that allows the building to shade itself.
These lines on the ground, these traces in the earth, these “vectors of life” create a play of fullness and emptiness between each vector, allowing the creation of the patio necessary for distribution, the privacy of the space, the intake of 2nd daylight and the thermal regulation of the house. This is how the project finds its balance, between the poetry of the material and its expression. Trying to blend into the fabric of the olive trees, but re-emerging to definitively make its mark, like a living sculpture.
GDN: Have you ever had to completely rethink a design due to unforeseen challenges? Can you share the story and what you learned from the experience?
J.M.: MID is fortunate to be able to choose its projects. The choice is made naturally through a joint analysis of the location, the programme and also the client. But there are always setbacks due to changes in programming, ownership or budget objectives. The fact that most of our work is on private or hotel projects means that there are sometimes an impressive number of small changes rather than a drastic change of direction. In the case of the Domaine de Dolomieu Hotel and Spa Project, near Lyon (France), we had to deal with a change of Owner which led to a change of Project Management team and a desire to upgrade the project. All of which sounds easy, but it involved a multitude of changes which, when added together, meant that a large part of the project had to be rethought. Control of detail and flexibility are key in this type of operation and can make for smoother change management. But it’s a well-known fact: a project can no longer be modified only from the day it is delivered!
GDN: How do you approach projects that require balancing client expectations with challenging site constraints or regulatory requirements?
J.M: Most architects will reply that the multiplicity of constraints makes it possible to raise the quality of the design and therefore the client’s appreciation of solving a complex project. This is also one of the pillars of MID’s Creative Philosophy, which is currently being applied to 2 projects where complexity is being developed in different ways. A project where the mix of programmes is combined with the aesthetic mix required by 2 associated clients for the OPERA Pearl Hotel and Brand Residence tower in Dakar and a project that I hope to present soon where the extreme topography of the site and the client’s requirements are challenging us on a project which I would like to see become iconic.
GDN: What current architectural trends do you find most inspiring, are there any emerging design trends that you’re particularly excited to explore in your future projects?
J.M.: The studio was very interested in the new wave of Brutalists, who were taking up the codes of this movement, which had long been ignored or misunderstood. This philosophy and design markers can be found in most of the studio’s work. I’m also very interested in the work with timber and mixed structures, which opens up very important perspectives in terms of environmental management and carbon footprint of the act of building. The Helix Project, housing as part of the development of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, which won a prize at the International Architecture Awards 2022, is an example of this work on the structural mix of construction systems, which makes it possible to define solutions for the traceability of materials and much more local construction.Looking to the future, and to complement the prefabrication work already begun on the Origami House project for the firm EcoTech House, the studio is looking at 3D printing systems for construction, as well as kinetic and renewable architecture, which will also enable us to find active solutions for energy management in buildings. Finally, in the context of restructuring, and more closely linked to the major European capitals, the studio is studying the subject of recycling and reuse, which in the medium term will help to reduce the impact of waste and create a more circular construction industry.
GDN: Have you incorporated smart technology or and AI into your architectural projects? How do you see AI transforming the field of architecture in the coming years?
J.M: Today, we use AI for the preliminary phases of projects that require three-dimensional and aesthetic research. This approach is always and necessarily preceded by conceptual work by hand using sketches and study models. As a graduate of the Paris-La-Seine Architecture School within the École des Beaux Arts de Paris, I cannot imagine a project that is not initiated by a simple conceptual hand sketch. The transmission of an architectural vision must occur through this direct link between mind and hand. It’s true that an architectural concept can be skilfully described to a digital assistant, but the control of the intention will be infinitely less direct.
This is why I believe that the key position of the Architect will remain unchanged in the intention and choice phases. We know that today, we can ask AI to simulate options based on precise constraints, and these proposals will become increasingly precise with time and the evolution of this technology, but who will take the decision? The client and his intelligent assistant? It’s possible that we’re already in an initial phase of the Uberization of Architecture, but I believe that its implementation will take place first and foremost in the tools and tasks of detailed definition, production and execution synthesis, where we can already see the scope for progress of the BIM tool, which is entering a new era.
GDN: In your opinion, what are the most important qualities for an architect to have in today’s industry?
J.M.: Creativity, always creativity and resilience… A lot of resilience. I like to say that Architects, past, present and future, have been, are and must be bamboos. To finalise a building project today, you have to know how to bend under adversity and not break, so that you can return to your initial form and unravel what best fits the project you had in mind, while respecting what your client had in mind.
In 2007, Jérôme Michelangeli founded michelangeli design [mid] to focus his creative work on unique international projects and new living spaces.
He is recognized as 40under40, one of the 40 European Architects under the age of 40 having an impact on the environment of the future, the city, the places to live and work.
Without borders, he designed and built in association with the greatest including Kevin Roche, Pritzker Price winner 1992, for the training center of the Santander Financial city.
During his former Partnership, Jérôme Michelangeli planed several new operations and restructuring in urban areas for major developers and specializes in hotel design. As part of his activity as a designer, he is finishing the Domaine Dolomieu hotel & Spa near Lyon.
He received the International Architecture Award 2022 in Athens by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum for the Milano Santa Giulia Multi-family Housing.
He has also recently won a 2024 Future House Award for his project “Villa Felipao” located in Toledo , Spain.