XTU Architects,  BPD Marignan, SNI Group and MU Architecture won the Réinventer.Paris competition for Paris Rive Gauche site M5A2. The winning project, called In Vivo, seeks to promote “social mix and openness between citizens and [integrate] nature into cities, to achieve a fairer, more sustainable, and resilient city.” This is being done by erecting four buildings; three for humans, and one for raising earthworms for the purpose of vermicomposting the inhabitants’ organic waste.

The three main buildings are titled as such: Tree House, Plant House, and Algo House. The three home buildings will host 13,000 square meters of housing for students and researchers, 1,200 square meters of public space, a 255 square meter café, and more than 2,000 square meters for garden space. The La Paillasse, a 1,000 square meter laboratory space for any residents, entrepreneurs, researchers, artists, or otherwise, to participate in collaborative processed under the guidance of the Centre Michel Serres, Toits Vivants (living roofs), Vergers Urbains (urban gardens), the Collectif Babylone, Mon P’ti Viosinage, and Le Mur.

Additionally, the Algo House will have a biofaçade with photobioreactors—biological solar panels—that will generate microalgae cultures for medical research. Plus, the biofaçade will also “allow the building to use the heat collected by the photobioreceptors for domestic hot water and heating, causing energy consumption to drop below 48kWh/square meter per year, as part of the Plan Climat de Paris.”