IRCAM Architectural Precedent Study

IRCAM Renzo Piano Paris, France / 1990

IRCAM Renzo Piano Paris, France / 1990

IRCAM Building

CONTEXT Kimberly Daul / Britanica / 2019 Paris, city and capital of France, situated in the north-central part of the country. People were living on the site of the present-day city, located along the Seine River some 233 miles (375 km) upstream from the river’s mouth on the English Channel (La Manche), by about 7600 BCE. The modern city has spread from the island (the Île de la CitÊ) and far beyond both banks of the Seine.

Paris occupies a central position in the rich agricultural region known as the Paris Basin, and it constitutes one of eight dÊpartements of the Île-de-France administrative region. It is by far the country’s most important centre of commerce and culture. Area city, 41 square miles (105 square km); metropolitan area, 890 square miles (2,300 square km). Pop. (2012) city, 2,265,886; (2015 est.) urban agglomeration, 10,858,000.

For centuries Paris has been one of the world’s most important and attractive cities. It is appreFLDWHG IRU WKH RSSRUWXQLWLHV LW RÉŁHUV IRU EXVLQHVV DQG FRPPHUFH IRU VWXG\ IRU FXOWXUH DQG IRU entertainment; its gastronomy, haute couture, painting, literature, and intellectual community especially enjoy an enviable reputation. Its sobriquet “the City of Lightâ€? (“la Ville Lumièreâ€?), earned during the Enlightenment, remains appropriate, for Paris has retained its importance as a centre for education and intellectual pursuits.

3DULVÂśV VLWH DW D FURVVURDGV RI ERWK ZDWHU DQG ODQG URXWHV VLJQLÂżFDQW QRW RQO\ WR )UDQFH EXW DOVR WR (XURSH KDV KDG D FRQWLQXLQJ LQĂ€XHQFH RQ LWV JURZWK 8QGHU 5RPDQ DGPLQLVWUDWLRQ LQ WKH VW century BCE, the original site on the ĂŽle de la CitĂŠ was designated the capital of the Parisii tribe and territory. The Frankish king Clovis I had taken Paris from the Gauls by 494 CE and later made his FDSLWDO WKHUH 8QGHU +XJK &DSHW UXOHG Âą DQG WKH &DSHWLDQ G\QDVW\ WKH SUHHPLQHQFH RI 3DULV ZDV ÂżUPO\ HVWDEOLVKHG DQG 3DULV EHFDPH WKH SROLWLFDO DQG FXOWXUDO KXE DV PRGHUQ )UDQFH WRRN VKDSH )UDQFH KDV ORQJ EHHQ D KLJKO\ FHQWUDOL]HG FRXQWU\ DQG 3DULV KDV FRPH WR EH LGHQWLÂżHG with a powerful central state, drawing to itself much of the talent and vitality of the provinces.

7KH WKUHH PDLQ SDUWV RI KLVWRULFDO 3DULV DUH GHÂżQHG E\ WKH 6HLQH $W LWV FHQWUH LV WKH ĂŒOH GH OD &LWp which is the seat of religious and temporal authority (the word citĂŠ connotes the nucleus of the ancient city). The Seine’s Left Bank (Rive Gauche) has traditionally been the seat of intellectual life, and its Right Bank (Rive Droite) contains the heart of the city’s economic life, but the distinctions have become blurred in recent decades. The fusion of all these functions at the centre of France and, later, at the centre of an empire, resulted in a tremendously vital environment. In this environment, however, the emotional and intellectual climate that was created by contending powers often set the stage for great violence in both the social and political arenas—the years 1358, 1382, 1588, 1648, 1789, 1830, 1848, and 1871 being notable for such events.

In its centuries of growth Paris has for the most part retained the circular shape of the early city. Its boundaries have spread outward to engulf the surrounding towns (bourgs), usually built around monasteries or churches and often the site of a market. From the mid-14th to the mid-16th century, the city’s growth was mainly eastward; since then it has been westward. It comprises 20 arrondissements (municipal districts), each of which has its own mayor, town hall, and particular features. The numbering begins in the heart of Paris and continues in the spiraling shape of a snail VKHOO HQGLQJ WR WKH IDU HDVW 3DULVLDQV UHIHU WR WKH DUURQGLVVHPHQWV E\ QXPEHU DV WKH ¿UVW SUHPLHU

second (deuxième), third (troisième), and so on. Adaptation to the problems of urbanization—such as immigration, housing, social infrastructure, public utilities, suburban development, and zoning—has produced the vast urban agglomeration.

Renzo Piano

ARCHITECT’S BIO David Basulto / Arch Daily / 2014 Italian architect Renzo Piano (born 14 SeptemEHU LV NQRZQ IRU KLV GHOLFDWH DQG UHÂżQHG approach to building, deployed in museums and other buildings around the world. Awarded the Pritzker Prize in 1998, the Pritzker Jury compared him to Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Brunelleschi, highlighting “his intellectual curiosity and problem-solving techniques as broad and far ranging as those earlier masters of his native land.â€?

Born in Genoa, Piano was originally expected to follow the family tradition and become a builder but instead chose design, studying architecture in Milan. After working for Louis Kahn between 1965 and 1970, personal success came early in Piano’s career: at the age of 34, he and Richard Rogers won the design competition for the Centre Pompidou in Paris. After the completion of the building, Piano spent four years working alongside Peter Rice, the engineer of the PomSLGRX EHIRUH IRXQGLQJ KLV ¿UP 5HQ]R 3LDQR Building Workshop in 1981.

The groundbreaking success of the Pompidou led Piano to a number of other museum commissions, including another of his most widely-praised works, the Menil Collection in Houston which opened in 1987. Today Renzo Piano LV SHUKDSV WKH ZRUOGÂśV PRVW SUROLÂżF PXVHXP designer, but in his own practice, his designs EHFDPH PDUNHGO\ GLÉŁHUHQW IURP WKH Ă€DPER\ant structural display of the Centre Pompidou; he has instead become revered for his light designs and precise detailing (although many critics sensed the ghost of the Pompidou in his Whitney Museum of American Art, completed almost 40 years later). Piano refutes the idea that his work displays any single style, however, telling The Independent “I think it [‘style’] is a trap. But what I don’t hate is ‘intelligence’ or ‘coherence.’ Because coherence is not about shape, it is about something stronger, more humanistic, more poetic even.â€?

This reputation for sensitivity and coherence has enabled him to build alongside some of the greatest architectural works of the 20th century: in recent years, he has completed buildings adjacent to Le Corbusier’s Chapel at Ronchamp and Carpenter Center at Harvard, and Louis Kahn’s Kimbell Art Museum.

In awarding him the 1998 Pritzker Prize, the jury praised Piano’s sensitivity but also his versatility, citing projects such as his Kansai Airport Terminal in Osaka as evidence that he was capable of more than just museums—a fact that would be reinforced in the decades to come with projects such as the Shard in London. The jury stated that “by choosing a career as an architect rather than contractor, he may have broken with a family tradition in one sense, but in fact, he has enhanced that tradition in ways his forebears could only have imagined.� “Architecture is art, but art vastly contaminated by many other things. Contaminated in the best sense of the word—fed, fertilized by many things.� – Renzo Piano

A recording chamber, DenancĂŠ, Michel, 2002

Writtings by other Authors on this project I Came, I Saw, IRCAM,

L’IRCAM (EXTENSION),

Lehrman, Paul / MIX / 1999

Richman, Adam / Invisible Paris / 2009

Unlike American research centers, IRCAM isn’t based at a university, although it does have VRPH KLJK OHYHO DFDGHPLF DɤOLDWLRQV ,W GRHVQœW get gobs of money from corporate sponsors who then get dibs on anything that comes out, although it does make deals with private corporations, and is not at all averse to making money. There are other public research institutes in other countries that do similar work-STEIM, in Holland, for one-but none are as well-funded or as well-organized. IRCAM is indeed unique, VRPHWKLQJ \RX FRXOG RQO\ ¿QG LQ )UDQFH ZKHUH socialism intersects with capitalism, and fascination with the future intersects with pride in the past.

)HZ YLVLWRUV WR WKH &HQWUH *HRUJHV 3RPSLGRX are aware that an integral part of the scheme is also a centre for research into music and sound, the IRCAM (L’Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique). The reason for this oversight is very clear - the original structure is completely underground, and it wasn’t until the architect Renzo Piano added an above ground level extension that anybody could be expected to know of its existence.

The second indication was that IRCAM is now, literally, above ground. Its original facility was built entirely underneath a plaza next to the hideous Georges Pompidou Center. It was a formidable space, but it seemed cramped right from the beginning, and natural light was nonexistent; it felt more like a rabbit warren than a space for creative human beings. In 1990, the new eight-story Piano tower (named not after the musical instrument, but its designer, Renzo Piano) was completed, and in 1996, two four-story buildings next door, one an old school and the other a former municipal bathhouse, were taken over and refurbished. Today the underground space is empty, undergoing serious renovations, while all the work goes on in decidedly more pleasant, if still somewhat cramped, quarters (at OHDVW XQWLO WKH\ ÂżQLVK WKH UHQRYDWLRQV DQG PRYH some of the labs back downstairs).

)RU WKH RULJLQDO VWUXFWXUH 3LDQR DQG 5LFKDUG Rogers had been free to use the design and materials of their choice, but when Piano was asked WR DGG DGGLWLRQDO ÀRRU VSDFH DQG FRPH EDFN above ground he was forced to respect Paris planning laws. He would be limited to a certain height, and above all, the building would have to be in brick to match the two neighbouring structures (an old school and a disused public baths). of about 24 miles from north to south. A geological impact over the valley that appeared instantaneously is now a beautiful bio-topo made of a ZLGH YDULHW\ RI FDFWL DQG RWKHU ÀRUD DQG IDXQD Renzo Piano has never done things the easy way though, and was totally against producing a simple building in brick and mortar. He wantHG WR ¿QG D QHZ ZD\ WR ZRUN ZLWK WKH PDWHULDO and eventually discovered a technique which allowed him to use brick in the facade without actually sticking them together. The bricks are actually perforated and strung together like beads on a necklace, then placed into panels and slotted into the building’s metal frame.

The technique was experimental and proved to be very costly. After being placed into the furnace, the 20,000 bricks used in the building had H[SDQGHG VOLJKWO\ DQG ZRXOG QR ORQJHU ÂżW WKH IUDPHV VR HDFK RQH KDG WR EH ÂżOHG GRZQ WR WKH correct size again - by hand! Nevertheless, the result was judged an overwhelming success and has become something of a Piano trademark, and much copied elsewhere.

Arrival of Paneling to site, Berengo Gardin, Gianni, 1990

DIAGRAM 1 7KLV GLDJUDP UHSUHVHQWV WKH ¿UVW VWHSSLQJ VWRQH RI 5HQ]R 3LDQR¶V WKRXJKW SURFHVV WRZDUGV WKH ,UFDP addition. The diagram depicts the early concepts for the basement layout, showcasing the varying ÀRRU OHYHOV DQG VSDZOLQJ VXEWHUUDQLDQ DGGLWLRQ 7KLV GUDZLQJ ZRXOG SURYH WR EH IXQGDPHQWDO WRZDUG WKH ¿QDO FRQFHSW

DIAGRAM 2 Diagram 2 comes from the schematic design phase during Renzo Piano’s creation of the addition.

This diagram served as a tool to better explain the spatial relations and circulation between key areas of the structure. With an emphasis on split level design and seperation of space through the use of implied barriers, this diagram is a fantastic window into the mind of a master architect’s thought process on complicated design.

DIAGRAM 3 'LDJUDP IDOOV LQ OLQH ZLWK WKH ¿UVW GLDJUDP DV IDU DV WKH WLPHOLQH LV FRQFHUQHG 7KH IDFDGH GHSLFWHG LQ WKLV GLDJUDP ZRXOG EH DGRSWHG IRU WKH ¿QDO GHVLJQ RYHU D GHFDGH DQG D KDOI DIWHU LWV FRQFHSWLRQ The addition contrasts the surrounding area strongly through it’s strong use of vertical elements, drawing the viewers attention upward to the full height of the structure.

DIAGRAM 4 The last diagram depicts the subterrain level once again, exploring the relationships between the streets of paris and the arts hidden just below the surface. With a strong emphasis on music recording, there was a large concern on sound isolation both from exterior noises, and excessive sound leakage to the paris metroplex. This diagram serves to explain the thought process and design of the acoustic panels placed within the IRCAM addition.

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L’Ircam à Paris, Renzo Piano, 1975 Diagram 2 (Lower) Ircam phase deux, Renzo Piano, 1987

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Paris Ircam, Renzo Piano, 1975 Diagram 4 (Lower) Ircam, Renzo Piano, 1977

The excavation of the IRCAM site, Berengo Gardin, Gianni, 1988

Construction site of IRCAM extension, Migeat, Philippe, 1988

Exterior view from Place Stravinsky, Berengo Gardin, Gi-anni, 1990

The anechoic chamber for sound, Berengo Gardin, Gianni, 1990

Exterior view from Place Stravinsky, Berengo Gardin, Gianni, 1990

Room in the original IRCAM: view over engineer’s mixing console into the recording studio, Berengo Gardin, Gianni, 1989

The IRCAM tower viewed from the square, Berengo Gardin, Gianni, 1990

Detail of the terracotta panels, DenancĂŠ, Michel, 1991

The tower on the corner of the Centre Pompidou square and Place Stravinsky, DenancĂŠ, Michel 1991

The experimental chamber, with panels that can be adjusted to vary acoustic reponse, Berengo Gardin, Gianni, 1990

Exterior view from Rue Saint-Merri , Berengo Gardin, Gianni, 1990

STUDENT

David Autry david.autry@ttu.edu (YDQ )HOOHU evan.feller@ttu.edu ~~

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7. 60 x 70 mm Aluminum Frame 8. Channel Strut 9. Trim to Secure Wall Panel 10. Steel Angle to Connect Channel to Beam 11. Flashing 12. Steel Section PE 120 Structural Frame of Building

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13. Steel HEA 180 Column 14. J-Bolt Connection Bracket 15. Weatherproofing Fixture 16. Steel Rebar Reinforcing 17. Cast-in-Place Concrete Slab 18. Insulation

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David Autry // Evan Feller ARCH 3355 / Fall 2019 ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR RAFAEL BENEYTEZ DURAN

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