News 85, Hommage à Philippe Corset, Partner of studioMilou till 2019
85
Philippe Corset and I were born in Niort, on the north of Bordeaux, we met in 1982 when I built a small residential project in our native region.
Philippe was a french civil engineer, trained in the ponts et chausses school, son and grand-son of traditional mason and contractor of Niort.
He was enrolled as a young frenchman in the war in Algeria, and came back, tough, realistic, taciturn and kind.
He taught me to be realistic, to understand how stone and water work together in soils and building, he taught how contractors treat workers and when they pay them, and he taught me how to defend the client money as if it is our own money…
He was an engineer in the Auguste Choisy tradition, educated in the french humanities and proofed by his experience as a soldier in the battlefield, knowing everything, saying very little…
We worked on all the projects I have built in my native region. I know I will think of him each time I visit, La Breche garden in Niort, the Bougon museum…
When I was in Singapore monitoring the National Gallery project, he supervised the restoration works and finally the installation of the 16th century Spanish Christ in my own house of La cigogne.
He was the best person I have met in my native town, he passed away on the 16 February in Niort surrounded by his family.
Jean Francois Milou, architect