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Architects: L'Atelier Senzu
- Area: 100 m²
- Year: 2023
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Manufacturers: RHEINZINK, Wienerberger, ACOVA, Pine Plywood
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Professionals: Sylva Conseil, WOR Ingenierie
Paris: The Latest Architecture and News
Le Vau Pavilion / L'Atelier Senzu
With 200 Days Left, Paris Prepares for the 2024 Olympic Games
As the countdown to the XXXIII Olympic Games in Paris ticks away, the city is making preparations that will completely shift its urban landscape and infrastructure. Set to be the largest event ever organized in France, the games will start on 26 July and continue till 11 August 2024. With only 200 days left, the Paris City Council has approved around 43 new initiatives acting as a catalyst for the city's transformation – aiming for a greener, healthier, and mobile Paris. From cleaning the Seine River to building a cycling lane, activating a transit line, and banning non-essential city traffic, the heart of the French capital is on a mission against time to revitalize its historic urban core.
RSHP Wins Competition to Transform Jean Moulin Site into Low-Carbon Mixed-Use Development in La Défense, Paris
RSHP has just won the Jean Moulin competition held in La Défense, Paris, to design a low-carbon mixed-use development. The competition is a part of the Paris business district initiative to become the world's first post-carbon business neighborhood, launching “Empreintes,” aiming to revolutionize five urban sites at the district’s periphery. Through collaboration with neighboring city centers, the scheme hopes to create various sustainable mixed-use properties.
How Television Narratives Shape Urban Imaginaries
Cities are not just inert landscapes or lifeless settings; they play active and significant roles in shaping numerous television narratives. Whether in series or soap operas, urban environments play a fundamental role not only as the backdrop where plots unfold but also in shaping the developments of storylines, their creations, guidelines, and contexts. While, on the one hand, cities and their urban cultures contribute to the composition of various small screen plots, on the other hand, television programs can also help shape a certain idealized imagination about these urban spaces, generating unrealistic expectations and perpetuating a series of stereotypes about the represented cities.
Anne Hidalgo, the Mayor of Paris, Wins the 2023 ULI Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has been awarded the 2023 ULI Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development, one of the most respected honors in global land use and community development. The honor comes in recognition of Mayor Hidalgo’s vision for a more inclusive and sustainable Paris and the global impact of her policies. Hidalgo, the first female Mayor of Paris, is credited with advancing ambitious policies that have reduced Paris’ carbon emissions by 40% in ten years and have increased the percentage of affordable housing. Hidalgo has also been named among Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2020.
The Reconstruction of Notre Dame’s Spire Nears Completion
In April 2019, a devastating fire engulfed the 860-year-old Notre Dame Cathedral in Pars, severely damaging its wooden roof and leading to the collapse of the 19th-century spire, originally designed by Viollet-le-Duc. Immediately after, French President Emmanuel Macron promised that the iconic monument would be restored in just 5 years, an ambitious deadline. As the restoration of the roof structures nears completion, in February 2023, the scaffolding for the reconstruction of the spire has been assembled. The Spire is expected to be finished by the end of the month.
Musée National de la Marine / Snøhetta
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Architects: Snøhetta, h2o architectes
- Area: 9000 m²
- Year: 2023
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Professionals: VPEAS, Équilibre Structures, Igrec Ingénierie, Agence On, Impédance ingénierie, +1
Mouzaïa House / Barre Bouchetard Architecture | B2A
Construction Starts on La Serre, MVRDV's Urban Oasis Outside Paris
Construction on MVRDV’s La Serre started. Situated in the ZAC Léon Blum eco-district in Issy-les-Moulineaux, just outside of Paris, and designed by MVRDV, in collaboration with landscape architect Alice Tricon, and developer OGIC, the scheme aims to challenge conventional apartment living by integrating nature into the urban setting. The project features housing units, shops, and ample greenery, aiming to create a haven of biodiversity.
Le Berlier, the 50-Meter-Tall Timber Tower Designed by Moreau Kusunoki, Opens in Paris, France
In Paris’ thirteenth arrondissement, the architecture office Moreau Kusunoki has completed Le Berlier, a 50-meter-tall timber tower housing residential units along with various other amenities. Situated at the intersection of multiple urban flows, networks, and scales, the project aims to find the middle ground between innovation, monumentality, and domesticity. The new residential center expresses its structural system through the grid of the façade, rendered in charred and pre-weathered wood.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s L’Arc de Triomphe Wrapped to Be Recycled by Parley for the Oceans
Two years ago, on September 18, 2021, Christo and Jeanne-Claude's L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped, 1961–2021, was inaugurated. The monumental public artwork wrapped the Parisian monument in over 25,000 square meters of silvery fabric tied in place with 7,000 meters of red rope. The materials, all made out of woven polypropylene, a type of thermoplastic, are now being reused, upcycled, and recycled, following the artists’ vision. Most of the materials will be transformed to serve practical uses for future public events in Paris. The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation is also collaborating with Gagosian to bring Christo’s early works to London’s East End for an exhibition open from October 6-22, 2023.
Exelmans Michel-Ange Building / Stefan Architecture
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Architects: Stefan Architecture
- Area: 3894 m²
- Year: 2023
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Manufacturers: Saint-Gobain, Porcelanosa Grupo, Rhino
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Professionals: Agence View, Atelier Comptoir des projets
Vaugirard Social Housing / Christ & Gantenbein
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Architects: Christ & Gantenbein
- Area: 10500 m²
- Year: 2023
World Tourism Day: 15 Architecture City Guides to Celebrate Urban Fabrics from Around the World
In celebration of World Tourism Day, we invite you on an architectural journey through some of the most captivating cities and destinations of 2023. These meticulously curated city guides pay homage to our global landscape's intricate urban fabrics. These guides serve as windows into the past, present, and future of modern, and contemporary architecture, offering insightful glimpses into each locale's distinctive landmarks and hidden gems.
Tourism today is a multifaceted phenomenon encompassing social, cultural, and economic dimensions, encouraging people to journey beyond their homes in pursuit of leisure and discovery. In 2023, many cities have seized the world's collective imagination, each with its unique narrative waiting to be uncovered. Whether one finds themselves meandering through London, admiring Paris, or immersing in the cultural treasures of Sharjah, the story is always there to be unraveled. From Amsterdam's canals to Barcelona's avant-garde architecture, the liveliness of Santiago to the ancient marvels of Rome, and the diverse Istanbul to the bustling Bangkok – each city serves as a testament to the enduring spirit of human civilization.
Buzenval / NZI Architectes
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Architects: NZI Architectes
- Area: 1300 m²
- Year: 2023
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Manufacturers: Technal, Wienerberger
Cities Light Up in Solidarity with Ukraine
In the realm of media architecture and its role in supporting struggles for social justice, the recent Media Architecture Biennale 2023 (MAB23) in Toronto, Canada, shed light on a captivating aspect: The rapid and vast propagation of solidarity lighting in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The synchronized illuminations, infused with activism and global art projects, became a powerful emblem of worldwide support for Ukraine during its time of crisis. Two emphatic female political leaders in Europe initiated the lighting solidarity message. Surprisingly, the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag illumination on iconic buildings worldwide defined an image of solidarity even faster in the press than large crowds of people in anti-war protests the weekend after the war began.