The Place of Research is an ongoing event format that brings together members of the CCA Research Network, an entity representing alumni from our research programs, for site-specific gatherings that allow network members to share research in progress. The event highlights the ongoing concerns of the CCA Research Network, positions the network as a medium of exchange and support, and creates concrete encounters to bring together alumni around compelling and urgent research questions.

We convene the fourth of these gatherings at AVRIL, a new cultural venue dedicated to architecture, art, design, and crafts in Paris, to engage with the CCA Research Network’s 2025–2026 theme how can we build relation?. This final gathering of the year opens a new format in the series with the participation of two guests: Meriem Chabani, who shares their research practice at its points of intersection with how we build relation across colonial geographies, and Joëlle Zask, who addresses the topics of food, nutrition, and the relationships that emerge from these social practices. In addition to Chabani and Zask’s critical interventions, a select group of Paris-based participants from the CCA Research Network, including Arthur Besnard, Paul Bouet, Carlotta Darò, Emma Larcelet, and Oulimata Gueye (with co-presenter Madeleine de Colnet), contribute insights on their own active research projects.

The event is co-organized by CCA Research Network member Paul Bouet (ENSA Paris-Est), Océane Ragoucy, and Rafico Ruiz.

This event is open to members of the CCA Research Network and the general public, though requires registration at studium@cca.qc.ca.

Algerian born, Paris-based Meriem Chabani is the founding partner of NEW SOUTH, an award-winning architecture, urban planning, and anthropology practice that puts the margin at the centre. Her work on sacred spaces, memory, and belonging include the Muqarnas Pavilion in Saint-Etienne, the Globe Aroma refugee art centre in Brussels, and the upcoming Mosque Zero in Paris. She has served as Aga Khan Design Critic in Architecture at Harvard GSD (2025), and currently teaches at Ecole Paris Malaquais (FR). In 2020, Chabani won the Europe 40 under 40 award. She was named one of the leading young female architects in France by AMC in 2023 and Le Monde in 2025.

Joëlle Zask is a philosopher and a member of Institut universitaire de France and the department of philosophy at Université d’Aix- Marseille. Through a variety of fields of experience, particularly the visual arts and urban planning, she explores the characteristics and conditions of a democratic culture. In her recent work, she has highlighted the close connections between ecology and democratic self-government. She is the author of several books, including Quand la forêt brûle (2019), Zoocities: des animaux sauvages dans la ville (2020), Écologie et démocratie (2022), Se tenir quelque part sur la terre (2023), Admirer - Eloge d’un sentiment qui nous fait grandir (2024), and Donner à manger (2026).