felix_bt

About the curators

It was two years ago, in spring 2015. The scene takes place at the school of architecture on Quai Malaquais, Paris, unless it was in a nearby bar. No matter. Juan Perez-Amaya, a young Colombian artist who had come to study architecture in France to nally understand “what goes on inside and outside the walls” on which his productions were hung, met Félix Beytout there. They were in third year of architecture and above all curious about what they were not being taught at the school. Juan Perez-Amaya was very excited by the idea of sharing a discovery with his friend. “I read an incred-ible book about a fabulous architect. His name is Jacques Hondelatte. It’s crazy no one’s ever told us about him. Do you know him?”

Félix Beytout smiled. He didn’t know Jacques Hondelatte very well. He was only 7 years old when he died. He was his grandfather and he had kept that a secret from the school, preferring to make his own way, under the anonymity of his surname. So he then confessed his family connection to Juan and, given the latter’s enthu-siasm, the project to explore the architect’s archives was born – sent from Bordeaux to Paris for the cause. They spent two years going through everything with a ne-toothed comb and making an inventory. This exhibi- tion represents the part of what they dis-covered that they’ve brought to light.

Juan Perez-Amaya (Colombia 1984) is a Paris-based artist, curator and founder of El Atelier, an interdiscipli- nary architectural design studio.
Felix Beytout (France 1992) is an architect and co-Founder of El Atelier. He works within architecture into experimental mediums as concept, sound and video. He is the granson of Jacques Hondelatte.