Project 149 Rue des Suisses Apartment Buildings Paris, France Architect Jacques Herzog & Pierre de Meuron Competition 1996, project 1997-1998, realization 1999-2000 Building Type Perimeter block, courtyard Perimeter block, infill Slab, point-access Number of Dwellings 57 Date Built 1996-2000 Dwelling Types1,2,3 & 4 BR flats, two town houses No. Floors3,7 Section Type flats Exterior Finish Materials metal, glass, concrete, wood Construction Type RC frame Ancillary Services basement parking
PHOTO Rue Jonquoy and Rue de Suisses, white corner block.`
URBAN & SUBURBAN CITY CENTRE
Rue de Suisses housing complex by Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron
The Rue de Suisses housing complex by Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron presents three different housing conditions— two street facing blocks, one set deep within the city block, and two small gabled roof, maisonettes. Located in the 14th arrondissement, a typical residential area in the south of Paris near Gare de Montparnasse, the housing complex was developed by one of Paris’ most innovative housing agencies, RIVP (Régie Immobilière de la Ville de Paris). Fifty-seven dwellings, of a variety of sizes, layouts and placements, respond to a unique urban infill situation. This Parisian scheme reignites the architects’ previous projects, while fitting into the distinctive urban conditions dictated by the site. Infill projects, “demonstrate how contemporary buildings can stitch together and repair urban blocks, extending buildings deep into the core of the plots to optimize apparently lost inner realms” (Gregory, 205). Here, Herzog and de Meuron showcase a response to an as-found urban, and even suburban, situation, integrating the old and the new. This Parisian scheme answers the long-debated question by the Athens Charter in 1933: “How are modern constructions to integrate historic cities?” (L’Architecture d’aujourd’hui 2001). The Swiss firm does just that. With an apprehension of place— historically, and design-wise, Herzog and de Meuron demonstrate an architectural approach to materials and deployment that work with restricted funds of a social-housing project. Acknowledging the complexity of the urban and suburban in a city centre, the housing complex manages to maintain a close interrelationship between three different housing conditions without breaking ties of a single whole.
PHOTO Rue de Suisses infill block glass wall at entrance.
Taking the existing street framework as a starting point and conserving the architectural character of 19th century Parisian street elegance, the contemporary infill form conforms to Parisian characteristics. The two streetfacing, seven-storey apartment blocks facing Rue de Suisses and Rue Jonquoy fit the urban grid at right angles to a white corner block. Typical of housing blocks in many Parisian arrondissements, the blocks match the rhythm of the Parisian street in scale and in keeping with conventions: vertical expression, height, attic floor and apartments off central staircase. Instead, the infill block explores its contemporary opportunities through treatments and techniques of materials and surfaces. The introduction of the shutters on the facade becomes the principle idea in unifying the system of blocks.
From afar, the Rue de Suisses street facade reads as a solid metal slab with a vertical, inward fold. This visual effect responds to the road junction on the opposite side of the street, while the neck in the facade invites the user to the entrance. Only up close is the detail fully revealed, and the perforated corrugated shutters that make up the facade are seen, folded up and hanging over the street. The entire facade is made up of individually adjusted folding shutters, that alter the homogeneity of the facade. Its appearance is constantly changing with the movement and use of its residents. The play of the open and closed curtain mesh reveals the semi-private balconies that separate the apartment from the street life. The openings contrast the heaviness of the material and create a feeling of lightness as the light is let into the openings of the dark gray facade skin.
The ground plans are oriented towards the bent in the facade, which is mirrored on the East facade. The facade facing the courtyard is also made up of the same curtain mesh with a vertical kink down the centre. The apartments are accessed via a central staircase for both street-facing buildings, with a concierge at the Rue de Suisses block. There are five (2 and 3-bedroom) apartments on each floor, with the exception of the ground floor, with only four flats. The block facing Rue Jonquoy has one apartment on each floor. A 1-bedroom apartment on the ground floor, and a 2-bedroom apartment on the second and third floor. The passageway between the street and the courtyard is directed by the deflection in plan, drawing users through the narrow entrance. Underneath the wall of shutters, the passageway unfolds into the courtyard in a very unique fashion. One may argue that the treatment of the entrance is one of the most successful architectural designs in the complex. Upon mention of the entrance, Architectural Digest even equates the project to the work of Donald Judd, an American artist associated with minimalism. Highlighting the canted passageway under the wall of shutters off Rue de Suisses, is a wall clad entirely in reflective glass. Calling it the colour of “Parisian poubelle green�, the glowing garbage-coloured surface creates a unique and unexpected merge of all three blocks. The transition from street to courtyard, from public to semi-private, from one block to the other, seems almost effortless. As the main entrance into the housing complex it subtly underlines the heaviness of the curtain mesh, the paved courtyard, and the concrete, while seeing the affect of nature, the treatment of the curved wooden shutters, and the engagement of users in the space. The courtyard block, set back far into the city block introduces an interesting condition. The area enclosed between city streets is often not much larger than a light well, however some roads enclosed larger areas. These backlands are often not apparent to the visitor. This quiet place of no traffic and playing children, introducing part of the suburbs into the heart of the city. Contrasting the Parisian street life character, the three-storey courtyard block is long and low. With no predetermined urban specifications as precedent, the courtyard block is a model for a completely different type of tenant than the street-facing apartments. The building is kept low to maintain its connection to the garden and courtyard. The apartments on the first floor are lifted off the street level onto a concrete platform, creating a greater
sense of intimacy and echoing the language of Parisian basements. The courtyard block has arcade-like balconies with tambour shutters that make up the curved facade of the building. This way, the block expands its interior spaces to the outside. More then simply an element of environmental control, the balconies are real living spaces beyond the flats. Thin timber slates set between curved metal guiding rails define the courtyard block facade. Each of the three storeys cantilever over a dramatically hanging roof. The ground and second floor have open terraces that separate the outside and in, while the third floor has a different typology. Small balcony railing sit in front of the full-height, sliding glazing. The curved, shuttered facade provides privacy and security, but most importantly a communal relationship to the courtyard. These in-between spaces serve as an extension of the apartment. The shutters express varying degrees of plasticity, playing on the opening and closing of each unit, welcoming and keeping out the sun. The roller shutters have their own natural perforation between the slats, even when closed, the relationship to the exterior is not lost. The glass facade and the wooden blinds are aligned as if the curves are bending down to embrace the courtyard. The common stair allows natural light, along with space for buggies and bikes. From the courtyard, the curved timber shutter, seen in profile to the concrete shell of the building, resembles a piece of furniture. The opening and closing of the tambour screens reads like the furniture desks that were once so commonly used. The curvilinear form in contrast to the harshness of the pavement and concrete, eases the the composition of the landscape, while strengthening the relationship of the wooden shutters and the two-storey gabled houses straight across. Designed as duplex apartments, they read as pieces of furniture in the courtyard opposite the entrances to the communal stairs. These maisonettes can be referred to as playhouses or Wendy Houses of concrete block, detailed to stain. Their placements mark the entrances to the courtyard block and subdivide the courtyard in to more personable areas, divisible by clusters of trees and open spaces. Concrete is similarly exposed on the sides and back of the courtyard block. The harshness, softened by trellis of wires supporting climbing plants and vines.
PHOTO [RIGHT] Rue de Suisses block from street in leaf season, and without. Facade appears as a metal gray solid from afar. [LEFT TOP] Ground floor apartments reviewed highlighted. [LEFT CENTRE] Southwest elevation. Northeast evelation. [LEFT BOTTOM] Allocated space of private and public in reference to the complex.
PHOTO Courtyard path view from Rue de Suisses entrance
PHOTO [RIGHT] Courtyard block with masionette opposite the entrance. [BELOW] Volume of trees; view from Rue de Suisses entrance. [BOTTOM] The path joins to lead to the inner suburb.
Courtyard The courtyard is dominated by the path running through it, connecting the housing complex together. Two locations are left open by the parking garage, creating clusters of trees that stand next to the building blocks. The courtyard extends from the street of the Rue de Suisses and Rue Jonquoy to the paved passageway between the courtyard block and masionettes. The transition of the streets-scape to the semi-private courtyard presents a fully paved condition, with certain volumes of trees and climbing plants that enliven the inner block.
Courtyard Block There are three communal stairs at the entrance on the south facade, with five self-contained units on each level. The ground floor apartments are T-shaped, consisting of 3 and 4-bedroom apartments. The form encloses private north-facing gardens that add a suburban touch to the city centre. The living and the bed-rooms are at the front, while the service spaces are to the north. The second and third floor are 2 and 3-bedroom apartments, no longer T-shaped, with a different layout. Nevertheless, on all floors to the south, the apartments are open to glazing and a loggia with a roll-down wooden shutter system, appeared to be clad in wood. A full time concierge lives in one of the apartments and maintains the complex. The green roof provides interesting views for the adjacent seven-storey blocks.
PHOTO [LEFT] Section view of courtyard block at loggia. [ABOVE] Courtyard view of curved wooden shutters at entrance and ground balcony.
Examining the ground floor, West corner flat of the courtyard building, the T-shape form allows for a 3-bedroom arrangement. With the living room and bedrooms on the South side, and the kitchen and bathroom to the North. The West wall is a retaining wall of concrete with vines climbing its surface. The T-shape allows for a private, backyard garden shared with the adjoining flat, with three exits to the outside. The flat can be accessed from the North private entry, the communal entrance, and the exit that leads to the private garden. The loggia extends the entire width of the South facade of the flat, creating a view onto the volumes of trees in the courtyard. Elevated slightly off the public path, the terrace does not lose contact with courtyard. Individually adjusted wooden screens can control level of interaction that varies based on the residents.
Rue de Suisses Block The SE corner flat of the Rue de Suisse block houses a 2-bedroom apartment. The entrance to the complex is within the narrow passageway leading to the courtyard. The corner condition arranges the balcony terrace along the bedrooms and living room, providing views through the metal shutters that can be adjusted as required. The kitchen and bathroom share a partitioning wall with the corridor and do not have access to an exterior view. The shuttered curtain mesh faces onto the courtyard building. Shifted South in plan, the views from the living room and second bedroom provide for the curved wooden shuttered facade, facing the path of the courtyard, and engaging with the semi-private courtyard.
PHOTO Rue de Suisses block street view
PHOTO [ABOVE] Seven-storey Rue de Suisses block towers over the three-storey courtyard block.
The relationship of these two flats is seen in the treatment of the shuttered facade that serves as the defining principle in both conditions. The conditions of the street-facing block and the courtyard block, conclude to two architectural responses: vertical metal and horizontal timber. The polarities of the project blocks are evident in every aspect of the design — high/low, couples/families, urban/suburban, oppressive/soft, angular/curved, built/ grown-over, and outside/inside. The play of boundaries between becomes permeable. Detailing: Timber treads touch painted concrete walls. Door frames are without architraves. Plaster meet timber flush. The materials and textures express the idea of the complex. The engagement of the blocks amongst each other, the street, and the courtyard — as the mixing agent, unifies the housing scheme. The system of blocks fills the site in response to the pre-existing conditions, forming an urban model that morphs with the elegance of the Parisian streets. The contemporary form stands flush with the historic city. Acclaimed as “the most striking example of exhibiting architecture in architecture” (Ursprung 2002), this housing complex links and enlivens, rather than dissects its contrary parts. The concept can be simplified to— concrete clad in shuttered skins. However, the bend in the facade, the overhang, and the use of the Wendy Houses elevates the scheme above the norm. The use of form and materiality, stitches the block together from the outside in. The presence of urban and suburban in the city centre works side by side to accommodate for a variety of users. The transition from the seven-storey infill blocks to the three-, and then two-storey housing conditions builds on the relationship between the units, the public spaces, and the semi-private terraces. Herzog and de Meuron’s approach to space and site not only successfully engages the user with the space, but strengthens the relationship of building, street and neighborhood.
PHOTO [CLOCKWISE] 1. Courtyard view of three-storey courtyard block concrete wall with climbing plants. 2. Concrete sheel with growing vegetation. 3. Courtyard building from the East. 4. High perspective view of green roof in leaf season and without.
Perspective view of courtyard. Curved wooden shutters and masionette lead to the Rue de Suisses block and its main entrance.
Tree cluster where Rue de Suisses looks over courtyard block. The courtyard path as mixing agent is presented in full view.
The glass wall at entrance from afar amazes and invites. The textures and materiality of facade and glass play on the flat, heaviness, and reflective lightness.
Tree cluster in leaf season. Contrast of the tree volume to the building volumes and pavement is seen.
PHOTO [LEFT] Second floor plan/First floor plan/Basement floor plan. [RIGHT] Shutter detail of infill blocks.
PHOTO Balcony view through curtain mesh used on infill blocks.
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