de porte à porte. Filming social housing
Jasper Meurer
Docar is a documentary film collective that narrates urban controversies. It was created in 2023 as a platform to delve into political situations by exploring their intersections with architecture discipline.
The collective was funded by Jasper Meurer, a German-British political scientist specialized in immigration issues and social movements, and Rocio Calzado, a Spanish architect specializing in housing policy and ecological transition. After meeting at the Sciences Po research school, Jasper Meurer embarked on a career in visual research and documentary films, while Rocio Calzado collaborates with various urban design agencies in France and Spain, teaches at architecture schools, and is pursuing her PhD in urban planning at the École des Ponts et Chaussées on the topic of social housing transformation.
Together, they decided to combine their multidisciplinary experiences to offer their own perspective on urbanism, architecture, and politics. With the support of FAIRE, a project accelerator launched by the Pavillon de l’Arsenal with the support of the Municipality of Paris, Docar has committed to the production and creation of their first film "De porte à porte," which is currently in production. Since 2024 Docar is a local partner of HouseEurope!
docar. is a film collective that explores, through audiovisual methods, the existing housing crisis, as both an architectural and political matter. The collective translates the academic research activity of their members, into filmed stories. This activity aims to establish dialogues between the research community, local realities and artistic initiatives. The collective is currently focused on two main activities: The theoretical exploration of audiovisual material as alternative research methods in political sciences studies, and the development of the Film ‘de porte à porte' (from door to door). This film is nourrished on the ongoing PhD project of one of the members of docar. and is part of the political studies department of the civil engineering school of Paris.
De porte à porte is a documentary film that explores the history of seven social housing towers located along the Paris ring road, from Porte Pouchet to Porte de Poissonniers. Designed by architect Raymond Lopez in the 1960s as part of a larger urban project named Secteur 8, these towers shared architectural aesthetics and construction methods, yet their life trajectories varied significantly. While some faced demolition, others underwent transformation; some achieved architectural acclaim, while others, initially slated for destruction, have been saved and are now undergoing renovation.
This disparity in the fates of the seven towers reveals the story of a paradigm shift in the urban renewal sector, one that has replaced the paradigm of demolition of social housing with that of transformation in France. Our film proposes a visual journey that explores this shift. Through thiw piece we aim to examine how architecture, urban planning and local politics worked together to tackle a problem with such a significant social and ecological impact.
