Lecture & Panel Discussion: Chicago Architecture Biennial - L'école idéale with Atelier Senzu

In partnership with Villa Albertine and as part of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, please join us in welcoming Wandrille Marchais and David Dottelonde, founders of the Paris-based architecture agency Atelier Senzu for a lecture and panel discussion. 

Wandrille and David are currently in residence at Villa Albertine Chicago studying the links between architecture and pedagogy in various types of establishments, from forest schools to universities.

Our aim is to reenchant the school environment by redefining architecture as a vehicle for children’s well-being, in an approach where space and pedagogy come together.

After the program, guests will be welcomed to a reception where they can enjoy a complimentary glass of French wine and have the opportunity to speak with the architects. 

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Program starts at 6:30 p.m. Please enter via 54 W Chicago Ave. Non-alcoholic options will be available.

This event is the first of a three-part series of free programs as part of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, in partnership with Villa Albertine. Join us for the rest of the series:

• Thursday, October 30 Film Screening: Chicago’s Unique Nuclear Legacy with Théodora Barat
• Thursday, November 6 Film Screening: Fernand Pouillon, France’s Most Wanted Architect

About Atelier Senzu

Wandrille Marchais and David Dottelonde, Atelier Senzu

Co-founded 2014 by David Dottelonde and Wandrille Marchais, L’Atelier Senzu is an AJAP 2020 winner. Our agency is called Senzu, in reference to the magic bean with extraordinary regenerative properties, which heals, repairs, soothes and satisfies. It’s a nod to our generation, which believes itself to be the generation of regeneration and rehabilitation in architecture. Rehabilitation seems to us to be an opportunity rather than a constraint, polysemic – i.e. applicable to very different subjects, a challenge as much theoretical as practical, a necessary and exciting evolution to which we want to continue to devote ourselves fully.

About the Chicago Architecture Biennial

The Chicago Architecture Biennial convenes the world to explore innovative ideas and collectively imagine the future of design. The Biennial’s large-scale exhibitions, talks, performances, films, and other events, create opportunities to engage timely global issues through the lens of architecture and design, emphasizing creativity and community participation. Free and open to the public, the Chicago Architecture Biennial stands as North America’s largest international survey of contemporary architecture and design.

The sixth edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, SHIFT: Architecture in Times of Radical Change, opens September 19, 2025 and will be on view through February 28, 2026.

Please be advised that students, members, and attendees at cultural events or programs may be photographed, and these images may be used for marketing purposes.