Commune, Communism, Commons provides an overview of public spaces and outstanding housing projects of Ivry-sur-Seine. The town, located in the southern suburbs of Paris, is known for having experimented with municipal communism and developed remarkable urban forms, working closely and for a long time with architects—among them: Louis Chevallier, then his sons, Renée Gailhoustet and Jean Renaudie, then their collaborators. The book offers a detailed view and understanding of the city’s different spaces through twenty ensembles built during the twentieth century, with a particular focus on its common spaces.

Simon Boudvin is an artist and teacher. He studied at the Beaux-Arts in Paris in the studio of Giuseppe Penone (1998–2003) and at the Paris-Malaquais School of Architecture (2000–05). After teaching in various art, architecture, and landscape schools, in 2018 he joined the staff of the Arts Department of the National School of Landscape Architecture in Versailles, where he teaches art courses and supervises master’s theses. As an outdoor rather than studio artist, he develops his work in the context of exhibitions, residencies, and collaborations with architects and other professionals. He is the author of several artist books which record the thread of his research: Motivi (Roma Publications, 2023); Oise (Building Books, 2022); Bote-tchu & Sèllatte (art&fictions, 2022); Ailanthus Altissima (B42, 2021); Un Nouveau Musée (MER./Accattone, 2019).