Description

The building for young, visiting guest researchers from abroad is located in the extensive park of the Cité Internationale Universitaire, an architecturally and historically significant site on the southern edge of the centre of Paris. It includes Le Corbusier’s Pavillon Suisse from 1930, the former Maison d’Iran designed by Claude Parent and André Bloc in 1962 and Willem Dudok’s Collège Néerlandais from 1929-38. Situated directly on the edge of the Cité facing the Boulevard périphérique, the site is not only constrained but also exposed to extreme levels of traffic noise from the boulevard. By cutting into the ground, the architects created an area below ground level that provides an open space for communal facilities. This dramatic intervention creates a completely unexpected sense of an “interior” space outside. Visitors enter via narrow passageways paved with metal grating into the building itself. The result is a space of great depth, which is accessible to the public but also sheltered and intimate. The additional below-ground space and its communal areas are therefore a place of peace and seclusion, despite being fully glazed.

The block itself has a simple ground plan – two blocks linked by a circulation space – and each of the front-to-back mini-apartments are mostly framed by exposed concrete surfaces. The size of the apartments varies from one to four rooms, but the majority are one- or two-room apartments. All are designed as multifunctional units with a separate kitchen niche and inner bathroom. The living room and a separate sleeping area adjoin the glazed facade. By opening the sliding partition to the bedroom, a continuous living area can be created. The decision to create a simple façade faced with sound-proof glass despite the noisy initial situation was bold given the restrictions involved. At the same time, the uniformity of the glass skin makes it possible to perceive the façade as an interplay of individual elements – for example, when the different coloured fabrics of the curtains are drawn across the windows. Along the narrow sides of the building, a system of twin longitudinal lamellas attached to an aluminium framework acts as sound baffles that apparently help comply with noise insulation regulations.

Originally published in Bauwelt 12.2019, pp. 50-55, abridged and edited for Building Types online, translated by Julian Reisenberger

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