LAN (Local Architecture Network) was created by Benoit Jallon and Umberto Napolitano in 2002, with the idea of exploring architecture as an area of activity at the intersection of several disciplines. This attitude, which has now become a methodology, allows the agency to explore new territories in search of a vision involving social, urban, ecological and functional issues.
The firm’s projects reflect this spirit of openness and cover a wide range of scales and programs : the Maillon Theatre (Équerre d'argent 2020), the Euravenir Tower (nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Award 2015 and Prix Soufaché of the Academy of Architecture), the experimental housing in Bègles (Venice Biennale 2016), the student residence on Rue Pajol in Paris (first national BigMat prize), the EDF Archive Centre (Leaf Awards 2011), the Neue Hamburger Terrassen (International Architecture Awards in 2014) are some of the iconic operations that the office has produced over the last two decades. LAN is currently working on projects in Europe (France, Belgium, Germany and Slovenia) and is expanding internationally through experiences in the Middle East and Asia.
In addition to architectural and urban design, the office is actively involved in the disciplinary debate and develops a significant theoretical production through exhibitions (Venice Biennale in 2016, Haussmann - model city at the Pavillon de l'Arsenal in 2017), publications (Traces in 2012, Napoli Super Modern in 2020) and conferences.
Since 2019 two new projects have emerged in the LAN ecosystem: the Research Laboratory dedicated to Architecture and Reality (RAAR) and the Pianoterra gallery restaurant (www.pianoterra.fr).
Teaching and transmission are also part of the transversal and transdisciplinary vision. Umberto Napolitano has been a professor at Columbia University GSAPP in New York (USA) and at the AA School of Architecture in London (UK), and currently teaches at the TU in Vienna. He has been a member of the French Academy of Architecture since 2016.
The two partners of the agency were named Chevaliers de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2018.
