Basalt Architects

Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement

Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
© Sergio Grazia

Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement 

Basalt Architecture

AIR CONDITIONING, HEATING, PLUMBING, SMOKE EJECTION
Rce

MANUFACTURERS
Ascender Seating

EARTHWORKS
Slomarep

CONCRETE POURING
Isd

ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT
Maintelec

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
Stebat

GENERAL CONTRACTORS
Laine Delau

FOUNDATIONS
Grimaud Fondations

PHOTOGRAPHS
Sergio Grazia

YEAR
2013

LOCATION
France

CATEGORY
Music Venue, Educational Architecture

Text description provided by architect.

Located on a plot of land between two high-rise buildings, the conservatory stands at the interface of architectural scripts linked to the city's building heritage.

Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
© Sergio Grazia
Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
© Sergio Grazia

On the edge of the 17th arrondissement to the south Haussmann-style buildings look across at social housing of a more recent period.

So the conservatory is located at a strategic point due to its theme, i.e. the 17th arrondissement's history is closely linked with French music, and building this new edifice has to be worthy of this past.

It is strategic due to its urban location, located as it is on the rue de Courcelles, an important corridor for entering the city with its sight-line extending from the Boulevard Périphérique (ring-road) between two architectural eras and styles.

Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
© Sergio Grazia
Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
© Sergio Grazia
Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
© Sergio Grazia

It is also the beginning of a new building fringe on the rue de Courcelles while waiting for the Consistory building.

Aligned along the rue de Courcelles, the project is an oscillation from down to up through the play of external surfaces.

It sends a strong signal through the city, a 20-metre-high benchmark in a green alley dominated by vegetation.

Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
© Sergio Grazia
Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
© Sergio Grazia

Visible from the Périphérique, its architectural treatment identifies it as a value-adding element by separating it from the publicity landscape that exists along the Parisian ring-road. Given its appearance and location, it is in constant dialogue with the city.

On the one hand the dance studios in the upper floors with their expansive windows participate actively in the building's visual signal by standing out from the city with a specific volume that responds to the apartment buildings to the north.

On the other side to the south, the building's pleated skin and its perforations that dialogue with the classic Haussmann-style buildings with their sturdy architecture.

Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
© Sergio Grazia
Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
© Sergio Grazia
Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
© Sergio Grazia

Our project has been designed from inside to outside; we have conceived of the conservatory as a place for exchange, emulation, a crossroads of practices.

This is the idea that has driven the project from the auditorium at its heart to the music rooms. Because that is how we have perceived the facilities.

Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
© Sergio Grazia
Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
© Sergio Grazia

A place where people play, learn, dance and create. Sounds and movement emerge from this swirl of activities, this school of practice.

Which is how the volumes came to life: a skin perforated by the beat of the melody that emerges and takes shape in the outer walls.

Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
© Sergio Grazia
Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
© Sergio Grazia

The script is there with the volume folding and undulating in the light and the beat of the perforations that enliven it by day and by night.

A place of movement and emulation, the interior and exterior volumes shimmer and move, reinforced by the play of passageways and aerial walkways, the materials sometimes reflecting, sometimes absorbing the light like the paramount acoustics of the place.

Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
© Sergio Grazia
Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
© Sergio Grazia

Although the exterior volume, an urban signal and catalyst of the rue de Courcelles' recomposition, is intended to be monolithic with shape and folds that enwrap it–like the works of Christo–we have sought to dematerialise the core interior space to render it impalpable and vital.


Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
Ground Floor Plan
Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
First Floor Plan
Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
Seconf Floor Plan
Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
Third Floor Plan


Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
Section
Music Conservatory in Paris' 17th Arrondissement
Details

Basalt Architects
T +354 515 1400
Basalt Architects
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