Hasta La Ideas

Here are the latest images of architect Jean Nouvel’s Philharmonie de Paris, set to become the world’s most expensive concert hall after surviving the French government’s recent cull of major cultural projects (+ slideshow).

Setting out its spending for 2013, the French culture ministry recently announced it was shelving several arts projects – including a controversial proposal for a museum of national history – as well as axing state funding for a Snøhetta-designed replica of the famous Lascaux cave paintings.

But despite running two years late and €187 million over budget, it was decided that building work on the Philharmonie de Paris was too far advanced to be halted.

The 2400-seat venue, located in the Parc de la Villette on the north-east edge of Paris, is now set to become the world’s most expensive concert hall after spiralling costs required the city and the state to sink an extra €51 million into architect Jean Nouvel’s project.

Construction costs are now expected to come in at €387 million, nearly double the original estimate of €200 million, with the opening date pushed back to 2015.

A French senate report recently criticised the “worrying drift” in the budget, suggesting the project is a “risky bet” against a gloomy economic backdrop, while state auditors also warned of the “exorbitant inflation in costs” of the publicly funded building.

When completed, visitors to the Philharmonie de Paris will be able to climb up its sloping metal-clad roof, while concert listings will be projected onto a 52-metre-high aluminium slab visible from the nearby ring road.

We first brought you images of the project back in 2007, after Nouvel’s studio won the competition to design the venue – see more of the first images here and here.

Other projects by Nouvel’s studio we’ve featured on Dezeen include a design showroom where furniture is caged behind chain link fencing and a renovated nineteenth century brewery in Barcelona – see all our stories about Jean Nouvel.

Images are by Jean Nouvel and Arte Factory or Jean Nouvel and Didier Ghislain.

The post Jean Nouvel’s Paris concert hall
spared the axe appeared first on Dezeen.

French architecture practice Tétrarc has applied a camouflage print onto the walls of this social housing complex in Saint-Gilles Croix de Vie to create the impression of shadows cast by trees (+ slideshow).

“We used an image of a pine tree, transformed a little bit of this image and put it on our facade,” Tétrarc told Dezeen, before explaining how the print is a reference to the nearby Vendée forests. “The camouflage effect wasn’t expected,” they said.

The grey-painted shapes appear on all of the white-rendered elevations and from certain angles the images on the main buildings line up with those on projecting wings to create the same effect as real shadows.

The Mervau housing development replaces ten houses from the 1960s and provides a total of 36 residences within four crooked rows.

A network of passageways and courtyards weave in and out of the spaces between buildings, plus Tétrarc have added south-facing gardens to as many residences as possible.

The development includes of mix of housing types, from small apartments to two-storey townhouses, and parking is located underground.

Living rooms face south in most of the apartments to catch as much daylight as possible. All living rooms and bedrooms have been designed to accommodate two or more possible furniture layouts.

Based in Nantes, Tétrarc have previously designed two libraries that we’ve featured on Dezeen. See more buildings by Tétrarc »

Photography is by Stéphane Chalmeau.

Here’s a project description from Tetrarc:

Mervau by Tetrarc

In Saint-Gilles Croix de Vie, a well known Atlantic port, Tetrarc is undertaking a social housing project with Vendée overtones, Mervau. After having reviewed the housing site (Arborea), its classification (Playtime) and its services (Boreal), and its construction using the wood option (Rosa Park), Tetrarc is giving its views here on the gradual renovation at the heart of small and medium sized towns.

In order to demonstrate that an urban renovation can be fused with the existing structure rather than traumatising it, Tetrarc is seizing the opportunity for a consultation with Vendée Habitat: the regional social housing office is planning to tear down roughly ten dilapidated small houses dating from the 1960s erected on a site measuring 3,553 m2 in order to build 36 comfortable housing units to be occupied by more than one hundred people.

Instead of erecting horizontal or vertical structures at odds with a sensitive urban environment, Tetrarc is proposing to establish a hamlet there in order to ensure urban continuity whilst giving occupancy of the plot of land to 101 housing units/ha and forming a strong interiority beneficial to the development of social interaction between residents.

Above: site plan – click above for larger image

Manifest urban familiarity

Nothing picturesque here: Tetrarc is adapting this tried and trusted urban design to a current form. They are revisiting the constructed continuities, the frequently used measurements, the continually changing points of view created by the reorientation of a façade or the slope of a roof, within the context of the greater visual homogeneity and a white coloured commonality. The series of households are set along alleyways of varying lengths, along lanes, passages and small courtyards, creating a visually welcoming and physically porous urban space accessible to all the population.

This approach requires that a careful response be given to each urban micro context: this will avoid any mass effect by favouring a perpendicular settlement; this will provide a visual vista on a street by opening up an alley along its line; thereby retaining the peaceful nature of residents’ houses by placing access to the parking areas in a buffer between the gardens and the new hamlet; another street will be changed by introducing an urban settlement on it created by at least six adjoining town houses.

Above: long section one – click above for larger image 

A strong sense of interiority

This arrangement has the added advantage of aligning housing with public space to the palpable diversity of collective spaces. Because of this it offers the residents the opportunity of having social facilities: children’s playground facilities, neighbourhood contact, shared public festivities… all elements of a socially active population.

This use leads to the quality in the use of shared spaces being comparable to the use of the access spaces to the housing and their external extensions which have a very direct participation in the quality and use value of the locations. Separating boundaries, the enclosure of small gardens, house doorways, handrails, ramps and balustrades are designed with exceptional care. Letter boxes and electricity meters are fitted into the scheme with extreme care. The sun shading equipment is in the form of playful vernacular designs. The walls and boundaries between the housing appear as cast shadows, an allusion to the pine trees in the Vendée forests, heightening the hamlet’s seaside resort atmosphere.

Above: long section two – click above for larger image 

Diversity and use value

With its homogenous forms the hamlet combines several types of housing in order to meet the big demand for diversity of residents: houses T2, T3 and T4, simplex garden apartments; houses T2, T3 and T4 upstairs simplex, duplex town houses.

Tetrarc is paying particular attention to the quality of everyday use. Accordingly the garden apartments are extended by a space screening the views from the alley and offering a south facing living room. The upstairs apartments are served, two on each side, by an independent staircase directly connected to the alley. They have some external space in the form of a large balcony with room for table and chairs. The town houses have a ground floor entry, a living room and kitchen both opening onto a small planted courtyard. A bathroom, a water feature and a bedroom; the other bedrooms are upstairs.

These varied types of housing have the common features relevant to the life style of today’s families: the open plan living room/kitchen is big enough to fit different types of furniture. In the bedrooms the bed can be positioned in at least two (and often three) different places.

Similar consideration has also been given to the collective areas. Along the alleys the areas opposite the buildings have been organised into night-time spaces and day-time spaces, which diversifies the architecture between the two façades and reconciles usage by avoiding the conflicts linked to noise nuisance.

In the same way, to protect the housing from the noise arising from car parking access, rubbish bin areas, maintenance areas, the housekeeping areas and meters have been placed in an enclosed section on the western gables.

Wisely managed energy

The response to environmental requirements and the optimisation of the operational energy use are, for example, directly evident in the architectural devices: in order to intensify the harnessing of free energy the installation of fabricated straps has been precisely calculated in order to optimise their absorption of sunlight, the roofing profiles have been examined with the same objective, which has led to some of them being lowered; a maximum number of living rooms are south facing; the sun shading equipment is fitted with openings located upstairs and the balconies protect those on the lower level.

In this way Mervau is providing high density medium housing which takes into account contemporary life styles and environmental requirements; it is providing quality thanks to the sophisticated streamlining of the construction, and this is integrated into the existing town by giving it a feel of poetic serenity.

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by Tétrarc appeared first on Dezeen.

French architects JKA and design studio FUGA have converted a nineteenth century Alpine farmhouse in France into a holiday villa with chunky wooden cladding and cut-outs based on the shadows of other buildings (+ slideshow).

To recreate the rhythms and patterns of the traditional local buildings, JKA and FUGA used one-inch-thick roughly sawn spruce planks, which they had to source over a year in advance. ”Only a few trunks presented enough nodes and few clapboards big enough were able to be pulled from each trunk,” architect Jérôme Aich told Dezeen.

In typical Alpine barns the gaps between disjointed wooden planks would allow air to circulate round drying hay, but at Villa Solaire the gaps between each panel simply let extra light into the rooms inside.

The architects studied the shadows cast onto the villa by neighbouring buildings to determine the positions of the cut-out patterns. “The pattern within the cladding is designed to respond to the path described by these shadows. The areas receiving a greater amount of sun are all the more open,” Aich said.

Originally they planned to cut the wood digitally before installation, but instead found it easier and more economical to attach the boards to the building frame first, then stencil on the patterns and employ a local carpenter to cut them by hand. “The construction marks slowly disappear but the cladding keeps the valor and traces of the handmade work,” Aich explained.

The framework of the original farmhouse was restored, which the architects describe as an unusual practice. “A lot of operations on old farmhouses used to cut out the wood structure of the first level and replace it with concrete structures. In our case, the existing skeleton was integrally conserved,” added Aich.

Inside the two-story house, a ground floor wading pool is surrounded with recycled slate tiles that were originally used to cover the roof.

Bedroom suites and a kitchen are located on the first floor and are positioned at each of the corners, leaving a cross-shaped living room between with windows on all four walls.

The different areas of this room are separated by level changes, which the architects describe as a reference to the topography of the of the Rhône-Alpes region.

“The house is conceived as an imprint of its surroundings,” concluded Aich. “Imprint in terms of landscape and geography, in terms of sunlight, as well as in terms of history.”

See more stories about villas on Dezeen »

See more stories about French architecture »

Photography is by Julien Lanoo

Here’s a few words from the architects

Villa Solaire
JKA and FUGA

The project consists in a conversion of an ancient farmhouse into a luxury rental villa, revisiting traditional techniques. This former farmhouse is located in the historic district of Pied de La Plagne, in Morzine. Built in 1826, it was singled out by the municipality as a landmark for traditional architecture.

Drawing on the context: inside/outside fitting

A uniform cladding wraps the whole farm. One of the challenges of the project was to preserve its appearance, while filtering light into the heart of the building.

The traditional technique of decorative cut-outs within the wood strips was used to perform specific perforations within the planks. The design of this simple and contemporary pattern is consistent with the equipment and techniques used by the local carpenter for cutting spruce slats. These cut-outs recall the disjointed battens of the traditional barn, used for drying hay.

Today, these slits bring light inside the building. The glazed elements of the project, which are flush with the inside of the façade, are partially hidden by the cover strips. As they are not visible from outside they do not interfere with the uniformity of the cladding.

Throughout the year, the surrounding roofs and buildings cast their shadows on the façades. The pattern within the cladding is designed to respond to the path described by these shadows: the areas receiving a greater amount of sun are all the more open and provide a certain legibility of the continuity between the common spaces of the house.

This concept of interlocking inside/outside, evokes a lifestyle in harmony with its surroundings and leads to the project being named the “solar house”: a house exposed on its four façades to the path of the sun, perceived as a sundial.

Above: site plan – click above to see a larger image

Finding one’s bearings: a living geography.

The idea is to move through this house between four “blocks” steady as rocks, located at each corner of the building. Each independent unit forms a suite with sleeping area and amenities. Between these four blocks, the remaining space is occupied by a succession of stacked floors at different levels in the framework. This continuum of generous space welcomes the activities shared by the inhabitants: cooking, dining, watching a film, conversing in the living room, warming up around the fire…

Above: ground floor plan – click above to see a larger image

These four blocks mark the house as the summits punctuate the valley. In Haute Savoie, one instinctively relates the farms to the mountains. Again, this symbolic association is translated in each block as it is identified in its facing mountainous terrain, just as the framework can be interpreted as a forest, whose various topographical lines are recalled within the different floor levels.

Above: first floor plan – click above to see a larger image

Revealing the structure: nested scales or “the complex of the snail”.

The charm of the original farm resides in the existing structure. Conserving its overall appearance was of one of the project’s key challenges, which motivated its restoration: It was fully recovered and the original plastering preserved after brushing and trimming.

Above: section – click above to see a larger image

Compressed spaces, expanded spaces. Nesting areas.

In order to clear the room of the nave while meeting the rental house needs, utility functions were closely integrated. A strong contrast results from the scales of the cosy bedrooms, bathrooms and sleeping alcoves, next to the open central meeting space. The complexity of these nested spaces is combined with a similar research in terms of details and materials.

Above: section – click above to see a larger image

Client: Private
Cost: 1.100.000 € excl. tax
Area: 620 m² gross floor area
Beginning of studies: October 2009
Construction completion: January 2012
Program: Rental house – capacity 16 persons
Design Team: JKA – Jérémie Koempgen Architecture, FUGA – J.Aich & M.Recordon designers, J.Koempgen and J.Aich are members of the collective Ferpect
Contractors: SARL Laperrousaz (carpenter) / SARL Yves Gourvest Construction (masonry) / SARL Fourcade Herve (interior design) / Etablissements Guy Perracino (joinery) / Labevière (Electrician) / Marcellin (heating) / SARL CQFD Drouet (shutters) / Florinda Donga (curtains)

The post Villa Solaire by JKA
and FUGA appeared first on Dezeen.

As part of the recent collaboration launched earlier this month between NYC’s famed skate boutique DQM and French skateboard company Cliché, this old-fashioned corkscrew comes just in time to help celebrate the holidays. To give the basic tool its distinct layered look, the handle is made of maple veneers…

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Bleachers climb over the roof of this timber-clad community centre in France by Ateliers O-S Architectes (+ slideshow).

Located in the town of Nevers, central France, the two-storey centre was designed by Ateliers O-S Architectes with tiny square windows and a courtyard at its centre.

The architects conceived the bleachers at the front of the building as a tiered public square that can be used for events, games, or simply as a picnicking spot for local residents, “like an agora overlooking the neighbourhood,” they explain, referencing the ancient Greek name for an assembly place.

“The strategic position of the cultural centre and the program led us to design a compact and generous project, as an extension of the public space enhancing the identity and image of the neighbourhood,” they added.

Visitors to the building enter through a double-height atrium, which leads through to a 220-seat auditorium on the ground floor.

Other facilites on this floor include a creche and a series of event rooms, while a dance hall and meeting rooms occupy the first floor.

Glazed walls surround the central courtyard on two sides to bring natural light into the ground floor corridors, while a private first-floor balcony overlooks the space from above.

Behind the timber cladding, the building has walls of concrete but the architects concealed them to “create a friendly environment”.

Other projects we’ve featured with public spaces on the roof include Snøhetta’s opera house in Oslo, as well as 3XN’s recently completed cultural centre in Molde.

See more community centres on Dezeen, including one that looks like a meteorite.

Photography is by Cecile Septet.

Above: ground floor plan – click above for larger image

Above: site plan – click above for larger image

Above: concept diagram 1

Above: concept diagram 2

Above: concept diagram 3

Above: concept diagram 4

Above: concept diagram 5

Above: concept diagram 6

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by Ateliers O-S Architectes appeared first on Dezeen.