(1949-1998)

The French studio of Decq and Cornette will continue using the same name despite the loss of one of the partners, Benoît Cornette, who died in a traffic accident on 15 November. Originally qualified as a doctor, Cornette later studied architecture in Rennes and Paris before founding the studio with Odile Decq, which began to make its name through exhibitions on young French architecture, and their victory in the competition for the Center of Traffic Information in Rosnysous- Bois. Among their finished works standout the building for the Banque Populaire de l’Ouest near Rennes, the Economic Science Faculty and the House of Human Sciences in Nantes and a viaduct connected to a motorway control center in Nanterre, which all characterize the emphasis put on section and structure, and also the importance given to the play on mass. This, as well as their idea of architecture as a confluent space of vital flows, give these works a quality somewhere between organic and maquinal. Passionate and optimistic, Benoît Cornette combined professional practice with teaching at Rennes Architecture School and the Bartlett School in London.