Location: Paris, France.

Architect: AAVP – Vincent Parreira Atelier Architecture Antonio Virga Architecte.

To recreate an identity specific to the residence of Portugal in the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris and for a better recognition of it in the city, we have developed an accentuated work on the facades: the bodies of existing housing buildings have been completely renovated. a gray of a battleship type tone. This tint accentuating the monolithic effect makes it possible to attenuate the various supports applied over the years and to compensate for the pollution due to the peripheral. The openings are underlined with a phosphorescent signaling coating that randomly plays with the flickering created by the lights of vehicles traveling along the neighboring boulevards. This kinetic lighting is particularly suited to the urban configuration of the building. The facades of the upper ground floor (theater and exhibition halls) are covered with an added heat treatment and an envelope forming perforated aluminum cassettes in a golden hue, which takes up the motif of the “calçadas” of the existing floor. This second skin detaches from the wall to create two accesses to the garden level and to the ground floor. This moucharabieh skin gives a new identity to the building, a baroque touch, gold, black and red, a Portuguese-speaking flavor in Paris.

Photo credit: LUC BOEGLY