MAP office is an open platform conceived by Laurent Gutierrez (1966, Casablanca) and Valérie Portefaix (1969, Saint-Etienne) to reform our daily practices and to reconstruct our life-world. Based in Hong Kong since 1996, both architects epitomize a new breed of architects who are rethinking the socio-political agencies of architecture. Their projects involve critical analyses of spatial and temporal anomalies and documentation of the ways in which human beings subvert and appropriate spaces for their own uses. A sense of play exists in much of their collaborative work, through a practice that includes text, drawing, photography, video and the creation of new platforms of communication. Running counter to the local architectural circle, MAP office’s mission is to bring forward a set of fresh alternatives to a region mainly preoccupied with “just-in-time” industrial production and efficiency.

Laurent Gutierrez is an Associate Professor, leading the Master in Design Strategies and the Environment and Interior Department, in the School of Design, at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Valérie Portefaix is the principal of MAP office, and teaches in the Master in Design program, in the School of Design, at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

For more visit: http://www.map-office.com/

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