In-between the environment and the existing in the work of Lacaton & Vassal

In the context of the climate crisis, the issues of adaptation and transformation of the existing built environment have become central. In the search for design strategies that can develop a discourse on spatial innovation, one that combines technical requirements with an ethical and poetic architectural expression, Lacaton and Vassal’s studio has made a significant contribution to the discipline by investigating the reinterpretation of the greenhouse as a device for transforming the existing through the design of a double space. The paper addresses the relationship between spatial quality and performance through the work of these architects, reflecting on the role that this in-between space plays in adaptation projects as a response to processes of change. It explores how this space mediates between the natural environment, the built environment (the city), and the interior space (the human), thus deepening the architects’ theoretical discourse on design.