New South is an international office of architecture, urbanism and anthropology based in Paris and Brussels. To paraphrase bell hooks, we put the margin at the centre. Through our projects we question the social, political and economic dynamics that act upon territories and form their architecture.
New South develops tactical proposals adapted to various scales. Our architecture is an opportunity to reveal what is already there and to give voice to invisible narratives.
New South’s work has been exhibited at Design Doha (2024), the 18th Venice Biennale (2023), the Tirana Architecture Triennale (2023), the Oslo Architecture Biennale (2023) and the Istanbul Design Biennale (2018).
In 2020, New South received the Europe 40 under 40 award, which recognises the 40 best emerging European architects under the age of 40, from The European Centre for Architecture and The Chicago Athenaeum.
New South is led by two partners with multidisciplinary and multicultural profiles: Meriem Chabani (DZ/FR) and John Edom (UK).
Meriem has ten years of experience in complex territorial, urban, and architectural projects, with an emphasis on contexts that face significant socio-economic challenges, and a methodology that fosters dialogue and negotiation, federating diverse actors into multidisciplinary project leadership teams.
As an educator, Meriem has taught and lectured extensively, shaping and currently teaching the Masters design studio ‘Afterlives’ at the Royal College of Arts (UK), and the African Health architecture studio at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture Paris Malaquais (FR). In 2024, she was a Wheelwright Prize finalist.
John’s dual training in anthropology and architecture in France, the United Kingdom, and Denmark has allowed him to develop hybrid tools for research, analysis, consultation and conception in architectural and urban projects. He contributes regularly to Arkitekten, the Danish Association of Architects magazine, and has written for The Architectural Review, The Funambulist and City Journal, as well as a number of academic editions (Routledge, Pavillon de l’Arsenal).
John Edom has worked at Brenac & Gonzalez & Associés (Paris), 3XN (Copenhagen) and GRAAL Architecture (Paris), and has significant experience developing and managing complex urban, education, residential, office, and mixed-use projects.
Mélissa Dyminat
— Architect HMONP
Mélissa is an architect who specialises in community engagement processes and sustainable design. She earned her Architecture Diploma with a research distinction in 2019 from the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris Val-de-Seine. Since then, she has worked in various architecture and urban planning firms on public space projects, housing developments, as well as sports, religious, cultural, and children’s facilities. She is also committed to an environmentally conscious and decarbonised approach, exploring the use of local, bio-based, and geo-based materials.
As project lead at New South, she has led multiple successful on-site HQ missions, including the adaptive re-use of social housing provider, Paris Habitat’s offices, and the Square Jacques Franck in Brussels.Team
