urbanmakers

polished angles
Located in the Danton neighbourhood, a downtown area built in the 19th century that is now undergoing major changes, the project is part of the renewal of Masséna Street. This neighborhood, still recently considered dilapidated, has retained its strong identity: mostly built in bricks, the singularity of each facade is expressed in a beautiful overall harmony. Cornices, pilasters and frames are expressed through careful terracotta fixtures, which highlight the wide variety of their colors. In this delicate context, the future construction is required to fit in with finesse.
The white cement concrete here echoes the tradition of the clear, golden bricks known as “sand bricks” that were once made from the local chalk clays. The use of this noble material is a very deliberate choice: To belong to the neighborhood, the new building must contribute to its authentic materiality, where the structures match the facade cladding. For this reason, white tinted concrete is part of a mineral tradition, and in a chromatic play close to that of light-colored bricks.
Following the prescription of the urban planners (Panerai & associés, Muoto architectes), the new architectural sequence is organized in “discontinuous” order, a configuration that gives great importance to the lateral façades since they participate fully in the atmosphere of the streets. The views are multiplied, and a play of permeability and depths is established between blocks. Maintained by a clear alignment of the first floors, the architectures above them are very legible, all the more so because the narrowness of Massena Street forces us to apprehend them by three-quarters.
Around an architectural theme declined both on the base and the emergence, the project questions the notions of context and right scale. The writing is sober: it is based on large openings, hospitable and orderly. The angles, hollow and polished, underlined by shooting cornices, aim at emotion. They guide the gaze in a dynamic way. In this design, which mixes power and delicacy, the hollow angles bring in the sky and link the building to its environment.

program 28 housing client CIF Promotion area 1 928 m² cost 3M€ HT work full service phase winning project, currently in conception process label NF Habitat