The Young Economic Chamber of Tours and the House of Architecture of the CentreRegion organize from September 15th to November 30th 2014, the micro-architecture competition “Loire & Loges".

It consists in reinterpreting a special regional typology, that of the "loge", a vineyard shelter, a small vernacular structure that was used as a resting place by the wine-workers from the 16th century. As this project is part of the Loire à Vélo® trail, a day shelter for cyclists will be imagined. It shall also allow to rest for the night. The French Building Federation and the local construction school will build the two winning projects. 

This international competition is open to any graduate architect, as well as architecture students. The applicants must be under 30 on the day theyregister. 

A Cycle's Tourist Shelter

The Loire and bicycle form the tandem of the decade and that, surely, of many to come. This alternative to the traditional holidays delights more and more tourists in search of a privileged relation with nature as much as a cultural wealth.

The 800-kilometers trail stretching along the river offer many occasions to discover a rich heritage, whether royal or popular, built or natural, part of the UNESCO World Heritage site or not.

On the the Loire à Vélo® route, regions, departments and cities do their best to meet the needs of some 850 000 listed touring cyclists each year.

Accommodation and restaurants are priorities but places for a rest during the day need also to be imagined beyond the simple bench, as many refuges which in the long term will punctuate the route. And why not on a European scale since the Loire à Vélo® falls under the Eurovélo way which makes it possible to join the Black Sea?

It is, in the tradition of the wine departments that this river sprinkles, a small construction called a “loge”, that is a “vineyard house”, or “cabin”. This building of a surface of approximately 15 square meters, with only one room, offered to the wine growers a shelter during the long days of work, whether during winter or summer.

These genuine little houses reduced to their simplest expression, marked the Loire landscape and make people dream. One easily sees oneself there living a simple but essential life. Like what one experiences when spending the whole days on a bicycle, with only a pair of satchels, a map and water. Once those little cabins were used by people “on the road”, wanderers looking for a refuge for the night when going from one village to the other. The idea is to reinvent this use and to inscribe it in our contemporary world.

By taking up the idea of the cabin, the candidates are invited to design a shelter meant for touring cyclists. Not connected, it rests on a base enabling it to be moved for the off-season period and to have a less impact on the site in which it is located. It must meet the French standards of the light leisure dwelling (Habitat Léger de Loisir).

The microarchitecture experience will be complete.

The jury will be composed of the following members 
President : Elke Mittmann – Director of the Maison de l’Architecture du Centre 

- Manuel Aires Mateus – Architect at Aires Mateus, Lisbon;
- Francisco Aires Mateus – Architect at Aires Mateus, Lisbon;
- Adrienne Barthélémy – Architect for the Bâtiments de France, Architecte Urbaniste de l’État, adjointe au chef de service SDAP 37;
- Clément Blanchet – Architect, Paris;
- François Bonneau – Président de la Région Centre ou son représentant.
- Emmanuel Caille – Editor in chief of architecture magazine D’A (sous réserve);
- Alain Depras – Director of CFA BTP 37;
- Didier Fiuza Faustino – Architects, Mésarchitectures, Paris;
- Mathieu Julien – President of the Maison de l’Architecture du Centre ;
- Jean-Charles Liddell – Architect and member of the Jeune Chambre Économique de Tours;
- Isabelle Longuet – Director of Mission Val de Loire;
- Bernard Lorido – City of Savonnières mayor;
- Myriam Obled – Tour(s)Plus;
- Christophe Rousseau – FFB 37 general secretary;
- Gilles Thibault – City of Chouzé-sur-Loire mayor;

The composition of this jury may be subject to modifications.

Registration and submission deadline: November 30th 

For more information please visit website

> via loire-et-loges.com