Dutch architecture studio OMA installed tessellated wood curtains as part of its design of the Paris flagship store for French fashion label Maison Ullens (+ slideshow).
Maison Ullens’ first Paris store was designed closely with the brand’s founder to ensure the interior complimented the attire on show.
“The project was developed through a close and personal relationship with Mrs Ullens,” OMA partner David Gianotten told Dezeen. “Therefore the interior design of the store became a good combination of the modern architectural style of OMA and the brand philosophy of Maison Ullens.”
The designers divided the space into public and private areas using a wall covered in ivory-coloured onyx stone. In the entrance space, a single statement garment is hung from a brass hook on a section of the onyx wall below the brand’s logo.
Golden panels line the doorway between the two display rooms on one side of the wall. Garments are on show in the first central area and accessories are presented in the other room.
The tones in these spaces are muted to show off the clothing and so the interior remains appropriate for future fashion trends. “The colours of the materials were kept neutral, except for the brass accent,” said Gianotten. “Therefore the collection and the interior will shape and re-invent the identity of the space based on the fashion seasons.”
Surrounded by dark wood walls, the area at the back of the store is divided into a series of small spaces that contain a fitting room, a small bar and a lounge for entertaining private clients. The store opened this week on Rue de Marignan in central Paris, to coincide with the city’s haute couture fashion week.
News:Le Corbusier‘s Notre Dame du Haut chapel at Ronchamp has been vandalised, prompting calls for urgent security measures to prevent further damage to one of the Modernist architect’s finest works.
One of Le Corbusier’s hand painted windows at Ronchamp, smashed by vandals
President of the Fondation Le Corbusier Antoine Picon spoke out after vandals broke into Le Corbusier’s chapel of Notre Dame du Haut at Ronchamp, on Friday. He called for the implementation of “emergency [security] measures regarding the site and building”.
The vandals forced entry to the chapel, breaking a hand-painted, glass window signed by Le Corbusier. They then took a concrete collection box, which contained no money, and threw it outside.
The interior of Ronchamp, showing its curved soffit and irregular-sized windows
Picon called on the Association Oeuvre Notre-Dame-du-Haut, which own the chapel, to “better protect the heritage of the twentieth century and that of Le Corbusier in particular.”
He also pointed to the church’s poor structural and cosmetic state, citing in particular “moisture problems, infiltration and poor preservation of masonry.”
Ronchamp was completed in 1955. Le Corbusier designed the chapel for the Catholic church on an existing place of pilgrimage.
Light streams into Le Corbusier’s Ronchamp chapel through windows punctured in thick masonry walls
Its thick masonry walls, irregular window placement and massive curved roof evoke a sculptural quality not previously associated with the sparse functionalism of Corbusier’s earlier buildings. Many critics consider the idiosyncratic chapel Le Corbusier’s finest work.
News: Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron have revealed designs for the first eight buildings of their 35-hectare masterplan for La Confluence, an extension of the city centre in Lyon, France (+ slideshow).
Herzog & de Meuron are overseeing phase two of the La Confluence regeneration plan, an initiative started by the Greater Lyon authority in 1998 to revitalise a stretch of land at the junction of the Rhône and Saône rivers that before now accommodated little besides industrial warehouses, a wholesale market and a prison.
Lot A3 will be the first completed block of the mixed-use masterplan and comprises a total of eight new buildings, including a 17-storey tower by Herzog & de Meuron and smaller buildings by architects including Christian Kerez and Tatiana Bilbao.
Located within the area dubbed the Market Quarter, the buildings are due to be completed by 2017 and will include a mixture of residences, offices, shops and other public amenities.
“[It] is a pilot project that aims to invent a way of living that is characteristic of the new quartier du marché,” said the architects. “With its remarkable location, the ambition of Ilot A3 is to link different parts of the existing and future city.”
French landscape architect Michel Desvigne is working alongside Herzog & de Meuron on the project.
Scroll down for an overview of the masterplan from Herzog & de Meuron:
Lyon: Nature and the city
The Confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône are Lyon’s very “raison d’être”. As early as the first century BC the Romans built fortifications at the precise point where the Saône crosses the chain of hills to the west of the city before flowing into the Rhône. Lyon then spread to the east as it developed. Initially on the peninsula bracketed by the two rivers and, once this area was completely occupied, beyond the Rhône and out on to the eastern plain.
Not only did the development of the city follow the logic of the natural environment, but its building types were a reaction to the local topography. The constructions on the hillsides are distinctly different from those at the waterside, and those bordering on the Rhône are different again from those on the Saône. Lyon’s identity is thus founded in this direct relationship between architecture and nature. It was not until the 20th century, when the city was beginning to spread to the plains – with no natural constraints – that generic urban architecture, interchangeable with that of any other city, began to appear.
Urban development of the southern tip of the peninsula therefore offers a major opportunity to write a significant chapter in Lyon’s history, in which urban development is inseparable from the natural environment.
The Confluence: From Marshland to city centre
Apart from a few port infrastructures, the Confluence remained undisturbed for many years, because the river courses were unpredictable and the land unworkable. It was only after the banks were consolidated that the peninsula became stable ground and land with potential for the city, a space for utopias.
It all comes down to the same question, should the island tip be a space for nature or should it be built up? Should it embellish the city, like the naturalist park projects of the 19th century? Should it be glorified by the addition of a monument, as Tony Garnier suggested in his Cineplex proposal in 1924? Should it be gradually covered over by the spreading city, devoured like the north of the peninsula?
None of these radical visions ever came to pass. Instead, the district had the time to develop almost unnoticed. The marché de gros, the gendarmerie, the SNCF, a circus, a prison and prostitution, all based activities here – activities generally relegated to the edges of cities. In recent years, two town planning competitions have been organised and a new bit of the city, La Confluence Phase 1, is now on the point of being built. This includes a hub combining leisure facilities and retail outlets interspersed with generously proportioned green spaces leading to a wide embankment running along the Saône.
The theme of the present project is based on the offering of a new vision on the La Confluence Phase 2 site at the location of the former marché de gros. The fundamental question must therefore be raised once more, can the development of the southern tip of the peninsula, the last reservation within the city, transform Lyon’s image?
Lyon’s image: A city between two rivers
Lyon is characterised essentially by a dense urban fabric along its riverbanks joined by numerous bridges. Both riverfront and types of construction are highly diverse. Along the Saône, the addition of buildings of varying heights creates an expressive frontage underscored by the curving path of the river. A monumental ladder dominates the banks of the Rhône. Colossal solitary edifices like the Hôtel-Dieu or a more recent municipal swimming pool reflect the river’s width. Historical engravings illustrate the importance of water in the life of the city and show how segments of river bracketed by the bridges are like great public squares.
The peninsula itself is characterised by great homogeneity. A single major artery runs through it along which the main monuments and squares lie: Lyon’s town hall and opera, the place Bellecour, the complex infrastructure of Lyon Perrache station, plus a large number of little squares and churches. This axis is the city’s backbone.
The green hills to the west, the Balmes, occupied by scattered buildings, overlook the city and its two rivers. These idyllic hillsides also form part of Lyon’s general image. They provide a picturesque backdrop, a silhouette crowned by the basilica. Most of the bird’s-eye views created during the city’s history were drawn from this vantage point.
The 40 million drivers who pass through the natural space of the Confluence every year on the motorway bridge are confronted with a radically different image. When asked about their memory of Lyon, they answer: a long tunnel. Lyon is perceived as a place of transit. Where every European passes through it at one time or another on the way to the French Riviera.
And since the fundamental question must come back to the fore, we are convinced that the answer is “Yes, some enterprise needs to be undertaken here to change the perception of the city as a whole entity”. The handful of seconds travellers spend on the outskirts of Lyon must stick in their memories. Going beyond the development of a new city district, the aim must be to offer a vision for the Confluence that can redefine Lyon’s image. A new chapter in the natural and urban history of Lyon needs to be written.
Completing the confluence
The development project for the second phase of the Confluence includes two radically different but mutually complementary areas. On the one hand there is the quartier du Marché, a dense city district, supplementing the urban fabric of Lyon on the peninsula and, on the other, the champ, a predominantly green space which itself forms part of the history of the Confluence like an “event”, the meeting up of the Rhône and Saône rivers. The transversale, a series of bridges and boulevards, connects the Confluence with the rest of Lyon beyond the twin rivers.
This is a dense but permeable district comprised of a variety of housing, offices and shops, replacing the former marché de gros.
A network of streets and courtyards has been laid down on the basis of the clear, linear, repetitive structure of the old market. Some of the existing covered market structures have been retained, contributing their deeply industrial character to the identity of the new city district while at the same time providing space at moderate prices available in the short term for very specific developments.
The new buildings present a variety of scales and character – low-rise housing closely linked to the ground level and the remaining halls of the covered market, medium-rise construction containing housing units or offices and some residential buildings, higher in certain cases, offering panoramic views while at the same time freeing open space at ground level.
The identity of the quartier du Marché stems from two quite different free spaces: the relatively narrow streets occasionally widening out, and courtyard gardens forming a continuous, tranquil, semi-public space for pedestrians and environmentally friendly transport modes.
The place Centrale, an almost conventional square with its tall trees, is a grand extension to the place Nautique and provides a venue for public events in front of the Hôtel de Région and the new public service building in the east.
The champ
The southern tip of the Confluence is the green counterpart to the densely built-up quartier du Marché. It offers a type of natural environment that is a genuine novelty in Lyon, and we have named it the champ. Activities in the cultural domain, innovative services, higher education and research are suggested as possible occupants for the champ.
We propose that some of the existing warehouses should be retained, since these would facilitate the implementation of developments of this kind, plus the option of defining a series of plots for new buildings in the vicinity.
The division of the overall area is underscored by tongues of vegetation reminiscent of the marshland conditions previously prevailing in the Confluence. Densely planted trees and a selection of plant species provide ground coverage and create the feeling of a public park on what is largely private land. An expansive network of paths for “environmentally friendly” travel runs alongside the planted areas bordering the individual plots.
The first high-rise buildings for mixed use in Lyon will also be located in the champ – twin, finely proportioned high-rise blocks define the termination of the city’s main artery. From a more distant perspective, they underscore the “natural event” of the Confluence, that is the convergence of two great rivers which were, originally, the city’s very “raison d’être”.
The transversale and the Rhône riverfront
A boulevard and two bridges form what we have termed the transversale, the last crossing point over the two rivers and the peninsula, so typical of Lyon. The new transversale, laid diagonally across a squared-off urban fabric, thus faces the Greater Rhône south of the Confluence.
Ultimately, it is planned to reclassify the A7 motorway and to convert it into a city boulevard connecting the Confluence directly to the city’s historic centre. A new jetty on the quai du Rhône will enhance access to the river for a whole range of leisure activities. The pont des Girondins will be the main artery connecting up Gerland and neighbouring districts on the Rhône’s left bank. In the future, the reduction of the area occupied by the railways will free up still more land for the creation of a continuous green space between the Rhône and the Saône on the Confluence.
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Toulouse architects BAST have renovated a derelict house in the French city by adding a corrugated steel extension that contrasts with the existing masonry (+ slideshow).
BAST responded to planning regulations outlawing the demolition of the existing house by designing a vertical extension that will give its inhabitants an additional storey once the interior refurbishment is completed.
The metal-clad addition replaces the building’s damaged roof and sits on top of existing limewashed stone and brick walls, which echo the construction of other buildings on the street.
“We wanted to create a strong contrast between the part retained and the new part – to contrast massiveness of masonry against the abstract extension,” architect Laurent Didier told Dezeen.
The angular structure features an offset gable and is punctuated by small windows on the south and west sides. The use of the strong but lightweight corrugated material reduces stresses on the lower storey.
“The extension allows the metal to not overload the existing foundations and walls,” said Didier, adding that the weight of the new structure is equivalent to that of the old roof.
A row of roof lights along the north-facing surface brings a soft and consistent natural light into the upper floor of the building.
The ground floor will contain an open plan living room and kitchen, with a separate area housing a bedroom, bathroom and storage space.
A new framework constructed inside the existing walls will support a first floor containing two bedrooms, a bathroom and a mezzanine office.
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French architect Paul Coudamy has converted this former butcher’s shop in suburban Paris into a private residence and included mysterious figures in the photographs (+ slideshow).
Paul Coudamy renovated the old charcuterie in Bagnolet into a home by adding a spiralling oak staircase and a bookcase with moving sections.
“Renovating professional premises to change them into living accommodation is now a frequent occurrence in Paris and its surrounding suburbs, an exercise in architecture that requires thinking of new concepts of living, interchanging private life and public life,” said the designer.
The Blur home was converted for a motorbike enthusiast, for whom Coudamy created a garage in the previous doorway to store his vehicle.
The designer also installed a tilted mirror above the bookshelf so the owner can keep an eye on his parked bike while relaxing in his armchair.
Sitting and reading areas are located behind the large shop window facing onto the street.
Alternate cubby holes in the wooden bookshelf are fitted with pivoting metal boxes, which can be tucked away to save space or pulled out to create a more interesting display.
The same wood and metal are used for the spiral staircase, which has fan-shaped treads that get smaller towards the top.
This staircase leads up to a bathroom, partitioned with screens covered in a condensation pattern.
Surfaces on the ground floor have been retained from the building’s former use, including wall and floor tiles plus large metal refrigerator doors.
Paul Coudamy has transformed a butcher shop in Bagnolet, France, into a private home. Renovating professional premises to change them into living accommodation is now a frequent occurrence in Paris and its surrounding suburbs, an exercise in architecture that requires thinking of new concepts of living, interchanging private life and public life. Blur is therefore a transparent environment made up of spaces that never totally discloses its fragile privacy. It is formed of a continuous succession of concrete and glass symbolising a period that combines work and pleasure in a single movement.
On the ground floor the former boutique fronted by a shop window has been turned into a sitting-room/library with a storefront, directly connected to the specifically created garage: the owner is devoted to his motorbike, it is therefore no surprise that he has placed a mirror above his books to be able to keep an eye on his pride and joy from the comfort of his armchair!
The bookshelves designed by Paul Coudamy are based on a wooden structure into which the architect has fitted pivoting metal boxes. The principle enables greater storage capacity and the façade is permanently redefined as books are sought out. There is a set of suspended boxes levitating between the ground and the ceiling, some inside and some outside.
Metal and wood are repeated for the oak staircase connecting the ground floor and the first floor in an open-sided bespoke spiral, a natural upward surge into space. It forms a beautifully designed raw metal backbone to the building cutting a contrast with the vernacular tone.
Lastly, the bathroom upstairs that Paul Coudamy has created combines both dry and wet areas. He has used a composite trompe l’œil partition in a permanent state of condensation as a border that will always be dry/wet. It is again continuity between two functions, spaces and visual impressions.
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Anemone tentacles moving beneath the surface of the ocean influenced the latticed facade of this student housing block by French studio Atelier Fernandez & Serres at an oceanic observatory in the eastern Pyrénées (+ slideshow).
The six-storey building accommodates 74 short-term residences for travelling students and researchers, behind an ornate coral-pink concrete screen that conceals the interiors whilst allowing light and ventilation to pass through the building.
Bedrooms are located on the four upper floors of the building. Corridors run lengthways around the edges, sandwiched between the rooms and the latticed facade.
“The colourful concrete mesh is at the same time a balustrade and a visual filter to the sea,” said the architects. “It provides a wall that guarantees the intimacy of users, bedrooms and walkways.”
Communal spaces and lounge areas occupy the two lower floors of the building. These include a canteen with a long strip window, which is the only interruption to the otherwise continuous facade.
The architects cast the components of the facade onsite then arranged them in irregular patterns to recreate the appearance of coral tentacles.
“We developed the facades using a limited amount of distinct shapes,” they explained. “These strands were then assembled in modules according to a simple mathematical algorithm which creates a vibration in the shadows and the matter.”
Read on for more information from Atelier Fernandez & Serres Architectes:
International Accommodation Centre for the Oceanological Observatory of Banyuls-sur-Mer
This project of an accommodation centre consists in a restaurant, working space for scientific research and seventy-four.
The building is part of a complex of facilities which include the oceanological research centre and observatory of Banyuls-sur-Mer, in France. This observatory is located in the middle of the marine natural reserve of Cerbères-Banyuls, in the Pyrénées orientales department. Its purpose, as a European scientific research and training centre, is to accommodate scientists and students from all over the world during short research and experimentation missions.
The building is located on the seaside and continues along the existing topography, be it of the sky, the ground or the horizon. It reinvents the relationship between the view and the landscape, and accompanies the building height plan of the city. It reinvents the relationship between the view and the landscape, and accompanies the building height plan of the city.
Its ochre tones reflect the surrounding hills and the nature of the soil that comprises the cultivated terraces of the hinterlands. These hills covered with vineyards tower above the sea and glint with the deep earthy hues of iron oxides.
The project, a rectangular monolith entirely coated in a gown of pink-ochre coral, faces the marina. It also marks the limits of the shore and the city.
Behind this undulating envelope, access to the bedrooms is provided by large peripheral walkways that also serve as balconies for the accommodations. These walkways are covered with a self-consolidating concrete mesh inspired by a graphic, light and see-through coral design.
We developed the facades using a limited amount of distinct shapes, called strands, that were casted on site. These strands were then assembled in modules according to a simple mathematical algorithm which creates a vibration in the shadows and the matter.
The restaurant is on the second floor. Its presence is highlighted by a large breach in the coral mesh, a window inviting the landscaping inside, and offering a panoramic view of the horizon and the open sea.
The colourful concrete mesh is at the same time a balustrade and a visual filter to the sea. It provides a wall that guarantees the intimacy of users, bedrooms and walkways. It also features openings which offer a subtle variation to the framing of the near and far landscape. The gaze is attracted from the inside to the outside and reveals the landscape. The views become rhythmic, accentuated by the movements and the different uses.
The international accommodation centre of Banyuls sur Mer draws its energy from the Mediterranean Sea. Beyond simple matter, the project falls within a poetic and scientific approach in order to reveal the landscape.
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