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on February 10, 2026

  • Research

Published on January 29, 2026– Updated on January 29, 2026

HDR Defense of Damien Masson

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This work, whose unpublished manuscript is entitled “Toward an Ambient Approach to Urban Crises”, was carried out under the sponsorship of Laurent Devisme at Nantes Université.


The defense will take place on Tuesday, February 10th at 1:30 pm, at the EPSS (École pratique du service social, CY Cergy Paris Université), in the Vinci room (1st floor), located at 92 rue Notre-Dame des Champs, 75006 Paris.

Summary :
This research explores the effects of a latent crisis—here, the terrorist threat—on everyday urban life. Positioned at the intersection of the fields of ambiances/atmospheres, affects, and urban geopolitics, the study mobilizes the concept of ambiance to analyze transformations of urban space and residents’ lived experiences. Three main issues are identified. The first seeks to characterize changes in urban production processes and inhabitants’ experiences following the terrorist attacks of the 21st century in European cities. Secondly, the research questions the capacity of the notion of ambiance to account for a diffuse issue whose manifestations extend beyond an immediate spatio-temporal framework. The concept of ambient climate is proposed as a conceptual tool for understanding affects and atmospheres that circulate, overflow local situations, and are embedded in broader historical, social, and normative contexts. Finally, the work aims to highlight the contributions of an ambient approach to the critical city. This approach seeks to complement existing analytical frameworks on crises by accounting for the ways in which they are translated into modifications and alterations of living environments, social interactions, sensory settings, and representations of the stability of the world—processes that crystallize in particular through situated bodily experiences.

Jury members :
 

  • Nadia Arab, Professor, École d’Urbanisme de Paris (examiner)
  • Laurent Devisme, Professor, ENSA Nantes – Nantes Université (sponsor)
  • Nathalie Roseau, Professor, École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (rapporteur)
  • Ola Söderström, Emeritus Professor, University of Neuchâtel (rapporteur)
  • Nicolas Tixier, Professor, ENSA Grenoble – Université Grenoble Alpes (rapporteur)
  • Gérôme Truc, CNRS Research Fellow, Institut des Sciences Sociales du Politique (examiner)
  • Andrea Urlberger, Professor, ENSA Toulouse – Université de Toulouse (examiner)
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