Yoonseux Architects

Catacombs of Paris Entrance

Catacombs of Paris Entrance
© Pierre L'Excellent

CATACOMBS OF PARIS ENTRANCE

Yoonseuxarchitectes

ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS
Cap Ingelec

PROJECT MANAGER
Ville de Paris- Paris Musées

MANUFACTURERS
Corian® Exteriors, Corian® Design, Saint-Gobain, Zumtobel

AREA
250 m²

YEAR
2017

LOCATION
Paris, France

CATEGORY
Pavilion, Store

Text description provided by architect.

From Denfert Rochereau place to the new way out, settled in Avenue René Coty, Catacombs of Paris consists of two kilometers underground galleries of the former quarries, that cover the biggest human being ossuary ever seen (more than six million skeletons).

Catacombs of Paris Entrance
© Pierre L'Excellent
Catacombs of Paris Entrance
© Pierre L'Excellent
Catacombs of Paris Entrance
© Pierre L'Excellent

The pavilion is about replanning the entrance, the path up to the outside.

From narrow lanes, composed of bones galleries, the project aims to guide visitors toward the brightness of the outside.

Formal simplicity of the project intents to put forward the way out.

Catacombs of Paris Entrance
© Pierre L'Excellent
Catacombs of Paris Entrance
© Pierre L'Excellent
Catacombs of Paris Entrance
© Pierre L'Excellent

The glazed porch roof, tenses toward the avenue, diffuses an opalescent light from the top of Catacombs and creates a new transition; a return to light.

Whiteness of incised walls, plenty of light after darkness, the emerging of this impressive volume, those elements contribute to this “in-between” before reaching the pathway.

Catacombs of Paris Entrance
© Pierre L'Excellent
Catacombs of Paris Entrance
© Pierre L'Excellent

Going out of this twilight, the visitor is finally invited to the final experience of the course; a suspended bench that led us try the softness westerly light from the entrance in this harmonious scene.

Relaxing space from the outside is conceived to offer a break time. The project staging tag a mark in the urban profile of René Coty avenue.

Catacombs of Paris Entrance
© Pierre L'Excellent


Catacombs of Paris Entrance
© Pierre L'Excellent


Catacombs of Paris Entrance
© Pierre L'Excellent
Catacombs of Paris Entrance
© Pierre L'Excellent
Catacombs of Paris Entrance
© Pierre L'Excellent
Catacombs of Paris Entrance
© Pierre L'Excellent
Catacombs of Paris Entrance
© Pierre L'Excellent
Catacombs of Paris Entrance
© Pierre L'Excellent
Catacombs of Paris Entrance
© Pierre L'Excellent
Catacombs of Paris Entrance
© Pierre L'Excellent
Catacombs of Paris Entrance
© Pierre L'Excellent


Catacombs of Paris Entrance
Section A
Catacombs of Paris Entrance
Section B


Catacombs of Paris Entrance
Floor Plans

Yoonseux Architects
T +33 1 77150189
Yoonseux Architects
1 Rue de Dijon, 75012 Paris, France