Archinect - News

Studio Gang completes first French project behind cylindrical stone facade

2024-11-13T12:13:00-05:00

Studio Gang has completed its first project in France: the University of Chicago John W. Boyer Center in Paris. Located in the city’s 13th arrondissement, the new academic hub aims to energize the local neighborhood while integrating into the “urban and intellectual fabric of the city.”

Image credit: Fabrice Fouillet

Set on a corner site on Paris’s Left Bank, an area known for research and higher education, the center is the focal point of a new mixed-use development that includes residential buildings designed by PARC Architectes. The scheme’s signature brise soleil façade is comprised of 900 cylindrical stone batons, which filter light based on the interior function, offering privacy in study spaces while revealing public areas. Clad in Lutetian limestone, the batons echo Chicago’s main campus while rooting the building in Paris’s architectural heritage.

Image credit: Fabrice Fouillet

Image credit: Corentin Lespagnol

“The Center in Paris is designed as a...

French officials float €5 tourist entrance fee after Notre Dame reopening

2024-10-29T09:59:00-04:00

The soon-to-reopen Notre Dame Cathedral might include a €5 entrance fee. The French cultural minister's controversial proposal, which The Guardian says is being "fiercely opposed" by the Roman Catholic church’s leaders, could raise upwards of €75 million ($80.8 million) annually. A 1905 law enshrining secularism in France could prevent the fee from being enacted. Ariel Weil, who represents the city center, told a radio outlet "The minister’s proposal as it stands may not be possible, but it does raise the question of the huge number of visitors to Notre Dame and the colossal investments required in our religious heritage nationwide."

Notre Dame is scheduled to reopen its doors on December 8th after a five-year reconstruction.

Eileen Gray’s modernist 1934 Tempe à Pailla home is for sale in the French Riviera

2024-10-16T10:47:00-04:00

The second-ever built Eileen Gray home design from 1934 has hit the local real estate market in France’s Côte d'Azur region for €3.5 million ($3.87 million USD).

The home is not far away from Gray’s earlier historic E-1027 villa in Roquebrune-Cap-Martim and boasts 8 bedrooms with 5 baths. The property has been restored several times after being looted by Nazis during World War II, according to The Spaces. Gray died in 1976 after designing more than 40 buildings. Only two of which – Tempe à Pailla and E-1027 – were ever constructed.

Image: Courtesy of Engel & Völkers

Jean Nouvel and Fondation Cartier mark 40th anniversary with new building announcement

2024-09-17T16:34:00-04:00

Jean Nouvel has put forth a new plan for the Fondation Cartier pour l’art Contemporain in Paris. The adaptive reuse project, which was announced Tuesday by the 40-year-old private foundation, will take shape within an existing Haussmann-era building on the Place du Palais-Royal across from the Louvre for the end of 2025.

Novel’s effort will address the current architecture's urban context while opening up the former Louvre des Antiquaires facility to the Parisian public in a whole new way.

Photo: © Martin Argyroglo

First and foremost, this will be a space dedicated to what the Fondation Catier’s founder Alain Dominique Perrin called the "transversality" of art-making. A total of 6,500 square meters (or, 69,965 square feet) will be available for a flexible layout of exhibitions. The space is augmented by five mobile platforms that allow the building’s surface areas to be modified and reconfigured into a layered series of vertical spaces up to 11 meters (36 feet) high.

Photo: © Martin ...

Paris' hostile Olympics architecture worries Los Angeles advocates ahead of 2028

2024-08-12T20:02:00-04:00

"I haven’t seen anything quite like this," says Jules Boykoff, a professor and former professional soccer player who studies the impact of the Olympics on marginalized communities. "Typically, hostile architecture is more subtle."

The worry that Los Angeles may attempt a full-scale homeless 'cleansing' ahead of the 2028 Olympics has always been present as the statistical realities make too apparent: At least 75,000 people currently live without housing in L.A. County. Now, the task for their advocates is to buck trends that already started in London in 2012.

The Reddit group r/HostileArchitecture has been roiling by images of a ‘LEGO-like’ concrete obstacle in the Saint-Denis Canal that could, regrettably, become a staple. California has been pushing encampment sweeps more aggressively in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling in late June.

Paris Olympic medalists are taking home a piece of the Eiffel Tower, too

2024-07-27T14:00:00-04:00

The 5,084 official medals to be conferred at the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games all include pieces of iron removed from the Eiffel Tower during previous renovation work. The pieces are made by Chaumet. Each is about 85 millimeters or about 3.35 inches in diameter and includes an 18-gram chunk of iron positioned at its center.

The official Olympics website says: "On each medal, original iron from the Eiffel Tower was cut into a hexagon, the geometric shape that evokes France to the point of becoming its nickname. This symbol recalls the mobilisation of an entire country, beyond its capital, to offer historic Olympic and Paralympic Games. Without its usual ‘Eiffel Tower brown’ paint, the puddled iron has been left in its original colour. Placed in the centre and embossed with the emblem of the Paris 2024 Games, this piece of heritage fits elegantly among the gold, silver and bronze to give the medals a two-tone effect."

Just in time for the Summer Olympics, Kengo Kuma's Saint-Denis–Pleyel metro station opens in Paris

2024-07-26T18:55:00-04:00

Kengo Kuma’s completed design of the Saint-Denis–Pleyel metro station in Paris is one of the largest and most significant new projects highlighting the city’s push for sustainable urban renewal as a consequence of its turn as the host of the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Images shared following its inauguration on June 24th with President Emmanuel Macron in attendance showcase a horizontal composition distinct from the verticality of its surroundings. (It will later boast a sculptural installation from the French artist Prune Nourry.)

Image: © Kengo Kuma & Associates - Photography by Michel Denancé

The station measures 377,000 square feet, making it the largest in the Grand Paris Express rail network. It’s designed to service 250,000 passengers a day from the new Metro lines 14 through 17, with connections to both RER D and GPE 4 commuter trains.

Image: © Kengo Kuma & Associates - Photography by Michel Denancé

Image: © Kengo Kuma...

Modernist early-70s marvel restored as training venue for green-friendly Paris Olympics

2024-07-26T15:40:00-04:00

Reuse and refurbishment will be part of the buzz surrounding this year’s Summer Olympics in Paris, and Chatillon Architectes' new renovation of the Grand Nef de l'Île-des-Vannes sports complex is getting top billing as one of the key projects contributing to a ‘green’ games.

The facility had been vacant since 2018. Chatillon sought to upgrade its energy efficiency and accessibility ratings while preserving its aesthetic and spatial qualities, which have existed since it was constructed in 1971. Today, it has an interior space of 32,300 square feet supported by a superstructure comprising two inclined concrete arches of 82 feet each.

Image: © Antoine Mercusot/Chatillon Architectes

Work included the installation of acoustic wood panels, the addition of new seating and a state-of-the-art multisport floor for athletes, LED conversion of lighting fixtures, and new HVAC systems.

Image: © Antoine Mercusot/Chatillon Architectes

The Grand Nef is now compliant with the latest code requirements...

Touring Notre Dame Cathedral with its army of restorers

2024-07-24T15:32:00-04:00

I personally grew fond of the general. Touring the different workshops, he always mentioned the “battle for France” that they absolutely had to win, but also spoke of his deep gratitude. That afternoon in June last year in Saumur, he told the compagnons: “Your pride in your work is beautiful to see. How lucky France is to have you helping to return this absolute masterpiece of a spire to the sky of Paris.”

A restoration of this order should take 10 to 15 years (that’s according to experts speaking immediately after the April 15, 2019, blaze). Instead, an army of over 2,000 workers and skilled tradespeople has diligently chipped away under the direction of General Jean-Louis Georgelin, who died unexpectedly last August. Their incredible pace has required a truly global effort.

The world gets its first glimpse at the restored national treasure when it officially reopens on the morning of December 8th with the now "happy" architect Philippe Villeneuve and President Emmanuel Macron in attendance.

A skateable testament to physics and form takes over the Centre Pompidou

2024-07-23T12:57:00-04:00

This summer, outside of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the museum’s famous forecourt area will be the site of a timely skatepark activation by local artist Raphaël Zarka.

His new Cycloïde Piazza installation is meant to connect young Parisian skate enthusiasts and forms a key part of the Cultural Olympiad preceding this year's games, as presented by Centre Pompidou curator Jean-Max Colard.

Image courtesy Raphaël Zarka

Harkening to the experimentations of Galileo and other astronomers and mathematicians as its primary reference, the centerpiece skateable "sculpture" was designed in unison with the architect Jean-Benoît Vétillard to carry several references to France's rich art history and architectural culture.

Image copyright Fred Mortagne

A polychromatic color palette quotes Le Corbusier's "Clavier de couleurs" keyboard cards from 1931. Constructivism and the works of painters such as Lyubov Popova also hold weight over the installation's presentation, helping it to serve as an "urb...

Oliver Wainwright on Paris' claims to be the 'greenest Olympics yet'

2024-07-21T08:46:00-04:00

With its focus on mobility, greenery and renovation, the overarching legacy of the Paris Olympics looks set to be more promising than most, ultimately helping to stitch long-severed suburbs into the centre. The mental geography of most Parisians will expand, for the better. Perhaps that’s the most that could be hoped for: with its emphasis on speed and reliance on private developers, the Olympics can hardly be a vehicle for more equitable forms of development.

Oliver Wainwright unpacks the City of Lights’ vision for a green (some might say ‘greenwashed’) 2024 Olympic Games while complimenting some of the new architectural designs from Ateliers 2/3/4/, Kengo Kuma, and others. No survey would be complete, of course, without a site visit to the massive new Athletes’ Village master planned by Dominique Perrault for the gritty Saint-Denis suburb, where he counted several flaws.

“It follows a classic pattern,” author Justinien Tribillon tells him. “The development is designed to ensure that people with more money will move here, increasing local tax revenues, instead of building very ambitious, progressive, sustainable social housing for the existing inhabitants of Seine-Saint-Denis.”

The games' opening ceremony begins on the cleaned-up Seine River on Friday, July 26th, at 7:30 PM local time.

OMA's 'anti-iconic' Bordeaux bridge design wants to be more than just a bridge

2024-07-12T18:08:00-04:00

Archinect has received photos of the newly opened Simone Veil Bridge, designed by OMA/Rem Koolhaas and Chris van Duijn in Bordeaux, France. The project spans 549 meters (1,801 feet) in length and is 44 meters (144 feet) wide, connecting the communes of Floirac and Bègles over the Garonne River.

Photo by Clement Guillaume, courtesy OMA

OMA said this about their unusual bridge programming: "It abandons any interest in style, form, and structural expression in favor of a commitment to performance and an interest in future use by the people of Bordeaux. Cars, modes of public transportation, and bicycles all have their own lanes, with the largest by far dedicated to foot traffic. The width of the bridge’s platform is doubled to create 28 meters of neutral, unprogrammed space that can be used for any cultural or commercial purpose, such as farmers’ markets, art fairs, bicycle rallies, car club meetings, and festivals for music or wine."

Photo by JB Menges, courtesy of Bordeaux Metropol

Part...

Grimshaw's new pedestrian bridge opens in Toulouse

2024-07-09T15:35:00-04:00

The Grimshaw-designed Robert Poujade pedestrian bridge in Toulouse has officially opened.

Developed alongside ppa.architecture as part of a consortium led by French civil engineering construction company Eiffage, which included Ingérop, ATP, and Quartiers Lumières, the bridge is one of four that will connect the Île du Ramier and the city. It will provide accessible routes through Toulouse’s new “green lung” on the Garonne River.

Photo: Marc Mondange

The footbridge will serve as a catalyst for the development of the northern end of the Île du Ramier. This will include the redevelopment of the former Parc des Expositions site, along with car-free pedestrian access to the Art Deco Nakache swimming pool and stadium.

Photo: Marc Mondange

The approximately 525-foot-long bridge will link the city’s Fer à Cheval district to the north of the island. On the city side, it is connected to the riverbank, with access to the river promenade and cycle path. It is also connected to the Avenue du Mu...

The 2024 Olympic Village as an answer to America's point access block problem

2024-07-01T11:21:00-04:00

Host cities through the decades, including Helsinki, Athens, London, Torin, Seoul, Barcelona, and most recently, Paris, have all used point access block housing that would be illegal to build in the U.S. When studying mixed-use Olympic Villages as a model for successful pedestrian-oriented development in the U.S., it becomes abundantly clear that major discrepancies exist between housing options in the U.S. and the rest of the world.

The endemic use of brick and natural stone in European apartment buildings versus their more combustible American counterparts is another factor underlying discrepancies architect Sean Jursnick herein describes as preventing the creation of better adaptable low-carbon multifamily designs in the country. It adds to another recent analysis of the point access block dilemma from the Center for Building in North America in May.

He says: “Reforming the building code and allowing for taller point access blocks, similar to Paris’ Olympic Village, is a great first step in unlocking high-performance housing.” The A/C-less dorms will house up to 14,250 athletes and support staff during the games before transitioning into permanent housing for 6,000 in the ailing Saint-Denis suburb.

Ten construction equipment companies form new group to promote sustainability

2024-05-02T11:46:00-04:00

Ten major companies in the construction equipment industry have formed a coalition to promote sustainability in the sector. The France-based organization, named the Community of Sustainable Equipment Players (CAMD), includes Bouygues Construction, Colas, Eiffage, Haulotte, JCB, Kiloutou, Manitou Group, NGE, Salti, and Volvo.

The group has set out five key objectives for member companies. The group will aim to provide practical solutions and support cross-sector projects, build a knowledge base and a common decarbonization strategy, raise the profile of the materials sector and its role in the transition of the construction industry, defend the convictions of a sustainable industry, and foster a shared vision and ambition for decarbonizing the industry.

Related on Archinect: Federal 2007 ban on fossil fuels in government-owned buildings finally kicks in. Image: © Dave Burk/SOM

“The CAMD is based on the pooling of efforts, skills and best practices to accelerate the environmental trans...

The Grand Palais debuts its pre-Olympics makeover in Paris

2024-04-24T11:48:00-04:00

As the start of this summer’s Olympics and Paralympics draws closer in Paris, the first images of the Chatillon Architectes-led restoration of the Grand Palais have been made public.

The initial phase of the four-year project that will be completed in 2025 involved expanding its capacity by 60%, creating a new pedestrian linkage to the Seine and Square Jean Perrin, restoring the balconies of the structure’s nave, and removing ad hoc additions that had slowly accrued since its opening 124 years ago.

Image credit: Laurent Kronental for Chatillon Architectes

New public gardens were created around the building, fostering an enhanced connection between it and other historic areas in the 8th arrondissement: the Champs-Élysées, Boulevard Churchill, and Petit Palais. They include more than 250 plant species, fed by rainwater that has been collected from the roofs — the largest made of glass in Europe — of the Grand Palais. The project's total costs will equal about $500 million USD, and the...

Labor and funding disputes are impelling repair work on the Eiffel Tower

2024-04-18T18:20:00-04:00

To date, only 30% of the tower has been repainted. Adding more than 100 weekly operations to monitor the lead increased annual running costs from €50m to €92m—and may reach a staggering €130m. The unions have also denounced the state of infrastructure, which sees tourists with tickets still queuing for up to three hours.

In February, the Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (or SETE), which operates the tower announced losses nearing $2 million as a result of the weeklong strike. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has sparred openly with both France’s culture and tourism ministers about the tower’s lacking historical monument status and security situation on the Champ de Mars. The presence of lead paint and the pandemic have also combined to frustrate repair work efforts. The landmark’s last official full paint job, the nineteenth since it opened, was completed in 2010.

BIG unveils mass timber transit hub design for Toulouse

2024-03-26T12:38:00-04:00

BIG has unveiled renderings for its new Marengo Multimodal Transport Hub project in Toulouse, France’s fourth largest city. The 129,000-square-foot building connects the city center to the UNESCO-listed Canal du Midi and the Périole neighborhood and will be realized adjacent to the existing Gare Matabiau, which was first built in 1905.

The local studio A+ Architecture is also contributing to the project. The design is for a mass timber structure topped with a rose-colored folded roof replete with photovoltaics and finished in the same tone by a low-carbon concrete floor. Both of these reference the vernacular use of "foraine" brick architecture that is endemic to the southern departmental capital.

Rendering courtesy BIG

Rising exponentially to a height of seven stories, users will access the building on one end and be greeted by shops and a subterranean connector to the metro station underneath. Further on, floors one through six include 71,000 square feet of offices for the region...

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is the 2023 ULI Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development laureate

2023-12-14T18:03:00-05:00

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has today announced Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo as its selection for the 2023 ULI Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development, one of the industry’s leading honors for community building and development worldwide.

“La Dauphine,” as she is better known to the press, has spearheaded a renowned program of green investments in the French capital while simultaneously embarking on initiatives aimed at pedestrianization and alleviating urban heat islands, among other key policy drives which have made her into a leading figure in the international movement towards ‘15-minute cities,’ housing justice, and better healthy buildings policies.

“Mayor Hidalgo’s leadership throughout two decades of public service has not only made Paris a healthier, more inclusive, and more livable city today but has also transformed the way other cities think about the possibilities of tomorrow,” Diane Hoskins, ULI Global Chair and the co-CEO of Gensler, said of her accomplishments. “He...

MVRDV begins construction on 'urban oasis' mixed-use concept for Paris

2023-11-29T12:44:00-05:00

MVRDV is behind a newly commenced mixed-use housing tract called La Serre, to be located in the Paris region’s ZAC Léon Blum eco-district at Issy-les-Moulineaux.

The firm’s project announcement details an 18-story development defined by its open facade with a landscaped vertical village provided by landscape architect Alice Tricon.

MVRDV says a total of 390 trees will be planted throughout the structure, helping to defy “traditional housing norms” in order to present a refreshed take on urban dwelling that’s in tune with Paris’ need for biodiversity and constructed using a host of low-carbon materials.

Image: © ENGRAM

The city’s Mayor, André Santini, said: “The project prioritizes nature, placing it at the forefront while the building recedes into the background. This urban oasis is not just a residential space; it's a genuine village square.”

Image: © ENGRAM

An open steel rack superstructure hosts the carefully selected slate of 150 different (mostly native) plant species while provi...

Iconic Parisian cathedral transformed into ‘sensory nighttime exploration’ by multimedia company Moment Factory

2023-10-26T12:53:00-04:00

Montreal-based Moment Factory has completed an immersive multimedia experience inside the iconic Dôme des Invalides in Paris. The project, titled 'AURA Invalides,' consists of a 50-minute experience combining video mapping, lighting, special effects, orchestral music, and sound design to celebrate the building’s architectural and historical heritage.

Image credit: Moment Factory

Conceived in 2019 by cultural operator Cultival in collaboration with Musée de l’Armée, the project seeks to create a “sensory nighttime exploration” in which visitors wander through the Dôme des Invalides and its six chapels guided by light. The experience is divided into three acts, each portraying a distinct facet of the site: “its construction, the memories it harbors, and its power to inspire one and all.”

Image credit: Moment Factory

To project an experience onto the main dome, which measures 295 feet high and 98 feet at its smallest diameter, the t...

Explore images of Moreau Kusunoki's recently completed timber residential tower in Paris

2023-10-20T19:27:00-04:00

A 164-foot-tall timber tower designed by France and Australia-based firm Moreau Kusunoki has officially completed construction. The project features 77 housing units, serveing as a new residential center in the southeastern end of Paris.

The tower is distinct through its grid façade composed of charred and pre-weathered wood. The grid is envisioned as an inhabited wall, which functions as "a filter to keep the surrounding dense urban environment at a distance."

Each residential unit features a private exterior space carved out by the grid façade. The long proportions of this frame were determined by the building’s structural system.

According to the design team, the shape also serves to highlight the "verticality of the building," which allows it to blend in with the surrounding towers. Contrasting this more private, inhabited wall, a transparent public space is located at the base of the structure that opens to the city. Here, an art gallery and restaurant ar...

Christo and Jeanne Claude’s Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped to be recycled for Paris Olympic Games

2023-09-20T11:55:00-04:00

The Mayor of Paris has announced that Christo and Jeanne Claude’s Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped installation is to be recycled for use in the city’s upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games. As reported by ARTnews, the effort will be led by the environmental organization Parley for the Oceans.

Under the plans, 269,000 square feet of blue polypropylene fabric and 9,800 feet of red polypropylene rope will be recycled. The recycling of the fabric and rope is in addition to the reuse of the wood and steel substructures which have already been reused by carpentry and steel producers.

“The fabric and ropes will be recycled into shade structures, tents or barnums for our next major events in Paris, in particular the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Paris Mayor Anne Hildago said in a statement reported by ARTnews. “This is a very fine example of the art world’s ability to adapt to climate challenges.”

The installation w...

French architect, historian, and academic Jean-Louis Cohen passes away at 74

2023-08-09T12:10:00-04:00

Jean-Louis Cohen, a renowned architectural historian, critic, educator, and curator, has sadly passed away in the Ardennes after suffering an allergic reaction from a bee sting, according to reports published this week in France and the United States.

As the Sheldon H. Solow Chair of Architectural History at the New York University Institute of Fine Arts and former Penelope Visiting Professor in Architectural History at the University of Sydney, Cohen was a beloved figure remembered by many one of his publishers, like Artforum, as being a “knowledgeable interlocutor, author, and professor, and a warm and generous mentor.”

Cohen was born in France in 1949 and began a successful career in academia following the completion of his doctoral studies and a thirteen-year tenure as the director of architectural research for France’s Ministry of Housing. Beginning in 1998, he was influential in the development of the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine museum in Paris, which opened to the...

Snøhetta’s Orionis planetarium debuts in France

2023-06-30T14:58:00-04:00

Snøhetta has revealed photos of its just-completed Orionis planetarium and observatory design in the northern French city of Douai.

The project opened in May following a three-and-a-half year construction phase and is defined by a pronounced desire to provoke continuous movement while encouraging users towards a rich multisensory experience on a site adjacent to the city’s Arkéos archaeology museum and Scarpe river.

The 21,527-square-foot planetarium is designed around two offsetting domes connected by a curving envelope that surrounds an elliptical interior courtyard. A landscaped garden path connection to the existing museum completes the exterior program while promoting biodiversity and linking various outdoor spaces together into one accessible whole.

According to the design team, materials used in the paneled curtain wall façade are supposedly inspired by the surrounding landscape and residential structur...

Will the 2024 Olympic flame be installed on the Eiffel Tower?

2023-05-26T15:02:00-04:00

Paris 2024 organisers have been planning to install the Olympic flame on the Eiffel Tower, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday. The source added that the flame would not be put at the top of the Eiffel Tower, for technical reasons, and it was not clear whether it would stay on the monument throughout the Games but the combination of two such iconic images would be a dramatic backdrop to the July 26-Aug. 11 event.

The new antenna array on top of the tower is the only thing preventing the flame from alighting (pun) on its freshly-painted pinnacle. The flame traditionally symbolizes the continuity of the ancient into modernity.

Notre-Dame Cathedral, meanwhile, will not have its own makeover readied in time for the 2024 summer games' commencement on July 26, as per the French government's latest update.

Norman Foster previews his Centre Pompidou retrospective for the New York Times

2023-05-11T11:47:00-04:00

I’ve responded to an invitation. Nobody could knock on the door of the Pompidou Center and say, “Hey, I had this idea.” This wasn’t my idea. I’m responding to an invitation, and I’m honored on behalf of so many people to accept it. I’m excited about the future. I think the future is more interesting than the past. I leave the past to other people.

The 1999 Pritzker Prize winner also delved into topics as far ranging as his yearslong dispute with environmental activists, representation of women in architecture, engagements in Saudi Arabia, NEOM, so-called "starchitects," and the world to come. The exhibition features some 130 major projects, covering areas like his love for cars, early collaboration with Buckminster Fuller, and more, all honed in on themes of "sustainability and anticipating the future."

Image courtesy Foster + Partners

Curator Frédéric Migayrou breaks down Foster’s six-decade output into seven thematic sections: Nature and Urbanity; Skin and Bones; Vertical City; History and Tradition; Planning and Places; Networks and Mobility; and Future.

The exhibition, titled Norman Foster, is open now and will remain on view until August 7th.

France debuts 'Ball Theater' pavilion installation ahead of the 2023 Venice Biennale

2023-04-27T13:09:00-04:00

France’s pavilion to the 18th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale will feature an immersive interchange of identity and emotion inspired by ballroom dances and human rituals of experience-based social cohesion.

French studio Muoto partnered with scenographers Georgi Stanishev and Clémence La Sagna for the design of Ball Theater, which they say ties into curator Lesley Lokko’s thematic look to the future where “architecture is no longer to represent or to be represented as an image.”

Image courtesy of Muoto, Georgi Stanishev and Clémence La Sagna

Their project for the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs takes the form of a semi-spherical intervention that’s configurable for different immersive experiences all based around Ball Theater’s usage as a forum for artistic performances and civic inquiry.

Image courtesy of Muoto, Georgi Stanishev and Clémence La Sagna

Special events will be held in its hollowed chamber space, taking...

An MIT-born startup is pitching their idea for green roof additions to the Parisian skyline

2023-04-05T16:45:00-04:00

A new startup born out of the MIT School of Architecture and Planning has developed a green roof concept aimed at improving the quality of life of Parisians while addressing a host of environmental and urban health concerns for the ancient city of 2.1 million.

Roofscapes is the brainchild of Master of Architecture students Eytan Levi, Olivier Faber, and Tim Cousin. The trio all hail from France and met while studying as undergraduates at the EPFL Lausanne. Together, they see the concept as a way to “unlock” the potential of the thousands of pitched roof structures throughout Paris that have for centuries gone unused.

“We knew we wanted to have an impact on the built environment that was different than what a lot of architectural firms were doing,” Faber told MIT News for a recent profile of the venture. “We were thinking about a startup, but mostly we came to MIT because we knew we’d have a lot of agency to grow our skills and competency in adapting the built environment to the cli...

Snøhetta's design for a new French asylum court seeks to offer ‘a place of calm during a time of intense turmoil’

2023-02-17T11:52:00-05:00

Snøhetta has been chosen to design a new National Court of Asylum and Administrative Court in Montreuil, France. The proposed scheme sees the two courts arranged on one site around large green areas, offering what the team calls “a place of calm during what can be a time of intense turmoil.”

Image credit: Aesthetica.Studio for Snøhetta

The court will function as a place where judges hear the cases of individuals who appeal against decisions made by the wing of the French government overseeing refugees and asylum seekers. Hearing thousands of annual cases of people from over 160 countries, the court is considered the final jurisdiction for deciding the future of asylum seekers in France, overseeing residence permit disputes, refusals, and orders to leave the country.

Image credit: Aesthetica.Studio for Snøhetta

Recognizing the positive impact of natural environments on mental and physical health, the scheme seeks to use the natural landscape as an extension of the court, including a 75...