Research & Innovation

On the fringes of the World Expo 2010 taking place in Shanghai with the theme of "Better City, Better Life", Lafarge is organizing a seminar on the theme of "affordable housing and sustainable cities" at Shanghai's Urban Planning & Design Institute. The event is the result of a partnership between the Tongji University in Shanghai (College of Architecture and Urban Planning CAUP), the Paris Belleville Ecole d'Architecture and Lafarge. Well known architects, engineers and academics will be meeting to consider suitable solutions in terms of affordable and innovative housing which can be sustainably incorporated into our environment.

From May to October 2010, the World Expo is being held in Shanghai with the theme "Better City, Better Life". Lafarge is partnering the France Pavilion and is supporting architect Jacques Ferrier's "Sensual City" project, an innovative building which reflects the French identity.
During the exhibition, Lafarge will also be coordinating a series of conferences and events focusing on sustainable construction.

In February 2010, Lafarge signed a 3-year partnership with the "Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine" in Paris, an international institution dedicated to promoting heritage and architectural innovation. This is an opportunity for the Group to continue its work into the new challenges of urban planning in association with the world of architecture.

The Group previously teamed up with the "Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine" and architect Rémy Marciano in 2007, when the training space for state-registered urban planners and architects, was refurbished using Ductal®.

In partnership with the Columbia's Graduate School of Architecture (New York), Lafarge is sponsoring a new university program, the MDS (Materials-based Design Studio), exploring construction materials and their role in urban planning.
Alternating talks from Lafarge experts at the School and visits to France, especially to the Group's Research center, for 3 months the program's students will focus on new models for US cities. Their exercise is to redevelop part of the city of El Paso in Texas by studying concrete's thermal, environmental and structural performances. The Group's technologies and innovations are placed at their disposal to do this.

From November 2nd to 7th 2009, Lafarge sponsored the Architecture and sustainable development booth for the Batimat 2009 international building exhibition. On the program:

• A conference with Jacques Ferrier, architect of the French Pavilion at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. Lafarge will be a sponsor of the French Pavilion.
• A conference with Paul Acker, scientific director at the Lafarge Research center, and Marc Mimram, architect-engineer, about the "Living bridges" study.
• Innovative solutions and products to promote the low-energy housing.
• The presentation of the QEB survey (Environmental Quality of Buildings), which demonstrates that concrete construction systems are best suited to resolving the issue of ".

From March 11th to 13th 2009, Lafarge took part for the third time in the "Marché International des Professionnels de l'Immobilier" in Cannes, France. An opportunity for the Group to reaffirm its desire to work together with the world of architecture on innovative and long-term projects.

Watch a video clip of architect-engineer Marc Mimram presenting his "Living Infrastructure" study conducted in partnership with Lafarge.

From October 1 to 3, 2008, and for the 2nd year running, Columbia's Graduate School of Architecture organized a series of conferences on materials. The "Solid States: Changing Time for Concrete" conference focused on concrete. In exclusive partnership with Lafarge, leading architects, engineers and academics came together around the theme of concrete and turned the spotlight on its future developments and potential uses at a time of intense urbanization.

In 2006 and 2007, concrete was the star of the "Bétons: étonnez-vous" exhibition organized by the Museum of Arts & Métiers, Paris, with the support of Lafarge.

This exhibition, which addressed the general public, artists, architects, construction industry professionals and schools, was an opportunity to discover all facets of this remarkable material, from manufacturing techniques to technological innovations, by way of its fascinating history.

In late 2005, the theme of the Shanghai Symposium was "How to harmonize infrastructure and landscape in the gigantic urban complexes which are the cities of the 21st century?"

The agenda included 2 days of debates organized by Lafarge in collaboration with the University of Tongji in Shanghai and the School of Architecture, Paris Belleville.

International experts presented 4 major urbanism projects:

• the Barcelona urban project,
• the Athens Olympic Games,
• the Shanghai World Fair,
• the Paris tramway.

From June 2004 to January 2006, the National Building Museum of Washington, D.C., welcomed the exhibition "Liquid Stone: New Architecture in Concrete". The exhibition featured around 30 recent architectural projects, both completed and in progress, which use concrete in an innovative way. It also outlined the history of concrete and explained how it is manufactured.