The Festival des Architectures Vives (FAV) is launching the open call for its 21st edition, taking place in Montpellier from 15 to 20 June 2027. Under the theme “Shared Happiness” (“Bonheur partagé”), the festival invites young professionals in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning and related disciplines to design temporary installations within the historic courtyards of Montpellier’s private mansions.

Applications are open until 7 December 2026.

A festival at the intersection of heritage and contemporary creation

Since 2006, the Festival des Architectures Vives has brought together contemporary architecture and historic heritage by transforming the private courtyards of Montpellier’s historic mansions into temporary spaces for artistic and architectural experimentation.

Usually private and inaccessible to the public, these courtyards open their doors during the festival, creating a unique architectural journey through Montpellier’s historic Écusson district. Each selected team is invited to design an installation specifically for a heritage site, establishing a dialogue between place, work and public.

The FAV offers young professionals an opportunity to experiment with architectural ideas in an exceptional heritage context, while bringing contemporary creation into direct contact with a broad and diverse audience.

A call to envision "Shared happiness"

For its 21st edition, the FAV invites participating teams to explore how architecture can create the conditions for encounter, curiosity, wonder and sharing.

The aim is not to represent or illustrate happiness, but to imagine situations capable of making it tangible — through a gesture, a material, light, movement, use or interaction.

Projects may be generous, playful, contemplative, surprising or participatory, while developing a distinctive relationship with the site that hosts them, its history and its uses.

The theme takes on particular significance in 2027, which marks the 50th anniversary of France’s 1977 Architecture Act. The law established that “architecture is an expression of culture” and recognised the quality of the built environment as a matter of public interest.

A theme developed with Chris Younès

The 2027 edition is accompanied by Chris Younès, philosopher, professor at the École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris and specialist in the relationships between architecture, philosophy, urban planning and ways of inhabiting.

Her essay, “The City as a Common Body: Towards a Joyful Architecture of Sharing”, provides a framework for reflection for the participating teams.

Read the full theme:
https://festivaldesarchitecturesvives.com/