The last day of the 2015 Dulux Study Tour was upon us and I was already becoming nostalgic about its ending. Having spent more than fifteen hours together for the last eight tour and travel days, there was a fear of moving on from the carefully orchestrated Amazing (archi-)Race. Fear of being left to our own devices and that creeping feeling of ‘has this all been a dream?’
Fuelled by croissants and caffeine, we travelled to the office compound of Ateliers Jean Nouvel that had over the last fifteen years, gradually occupied a series of adjoining buildings wrapped around a paved and pot planted courtyard. Following our visit to the politically embattled Philharmonie de Paris on the edge of the Parc de la Villette the evening before, we were very conscious of the elephant in the room. Jean Nouvel’s ‘Ambassador’ Manuel filled us in on the financial political, scheduling and legal fall out of a project turned sour. Certainly at that scale it is hard for any of us to fathom.
Shifting to other points of discussion, we were surprised to receive a rather candid assessment of the practice evolution. It had become a pattern for the women architects to stick around, while their male counterparts had a tendency for itchy feet, many moving to start their own practices after learning the ropes. Though in Manuel’s case and for several others too, there was also a tendency to return once work became scarce or when they were willing to concede their design autonomy to the starchitect.
Next we visited LAN’s mixed use Homage to Haussmann in the 17th Arridosment. We were taken through cute pedestrianised streets lined with charcuterie, fresh produce and cafes that had us hankering for our next baguette fix.
Wedged between defunct rail infrastructure now being developed and an area of the traditional and iconic Haussmann housing with their hierarchical street walls, LAN borrowed from the desirable latter typology to design an adaptable apartment/office floor plate with externally load bearing and prefabricated facade that hinted little toward the primary residential use.
We made tracks to Renzo Piano’s recently completed Fondation Jerome Seydoux Pathe in the 13th where we were suitably impressed. The ‘little casper’ or silver ‘armidillo’ glazed bubble quietly rose up above the slate and zinc rooftops behind adjoining heritage facades, and was the first blobitecture we’d encountered on this trip. Surprisingly perhaps, we all immediately felt cocooned within its bow of curved timber ribs and perforated aluminium shingles. The project architect, Torsten, ran us through its sophisticated yet user operated ventilation system while we fought the urge to fall asleep in the womb like structure.
With some spontaneous hustle, we took the train to the 16th to the Fondation Le Corbusier at Maison la Roche for a speedy hit of Modernism before our final visit of the Dulux Study Tour. In disposable blue shoe covers we darted up and down the three stories ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the excessive circulation, modestly proportioned rooms and novelty of being able to track each other from almost anywhere in the building.
Content with our Corbusian diversion, we settled in at the Ordre des Architects to discuss the architectural scene in Paris over a beer, debating differences between established and aged starchitects (“who’s ego forbids them to retire”), and the smaller more collaborative studios that are still suffering from the 2009 economic downturn.
Lastly, from the austere modern of the Maison la Roche and stripped-back former convent home of The Ordre, we came to the distinctly Parisian, Train le Blieu that radiated grandeur and opulence. While we watched our dashingly dressed waiters and frescoed surrounds we reflected on some of the highlights: Fuji Kindergarten, Barbican, Fondation Jerome Seydoux Pathe, meeting with Astrid Klien and Kevin Carmody, and lowlights: bag snatchers in Paris, lack of sleep and plane food.
Never a dull moment on this premium trip. Thank you Dulux, AIA, AM and my exceptional archi peers, you’ve been an absolute delight.
– Bonnie Herring