Book Excerpt: Valode & Pistre Architects by Rizzoli International Publications

Saint-GoBain tower Paris, France 2018

The new Saint-Gobain headquarters is a 558-foot tower with

building has three main sections: a “trunk” containing most of the

about 538,000 square feet of floor space located in the center

offices, and two transparent glass rhombohedrons. The form at

of the La Défense business district near Paris. Saint-Gobain is

the foot of the building houses a public showroom, an auditorium,

a leading manufacturer of construction materials, particularly

and restaurant areas shaded by trees. The one at the top, which

high-performance glass. The architectural and technical aim of this

is larger, houses Saint-Gobain’s public relations and hospitality

project was to demonstrate that systematically seeking to provide

department amid terraced gardens. The thirty-eight-story tower

high-quality working conditions and looking for the most effective

was due for 2018 completion as this book went to press. The firm

solutions in environmental and energy terms can combine to form

states, “Designed to be the future showcase for Saint-Gobain’s im-

the basis for a new generation of towers. Another goal was to

age and expertise, the tower aims to achieve an exemplary level

make the tower a showcase for the expertise and international

of environmental quality and energy performance by focusing in

image of Saint-Gobain. Clearly, these two goals were shared by

particular on compliance with the group’s comfort standards for

the architects and the client. The architectural design of the Saint-

the benefit of its future occupants.”

Gobain Tower involves a play on light. It consists of a set of “crystals” whose sides and angles, combined with the characteristics of the glass itself, are alternately transparent and reflective. The © 2017 Rizzoli International Publications. All Rights Reserved.

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Beirut SoukS entertainMent Center Beirut, Lebannon 2015

Devastated by a civil war that lasted from 1975 to 1990, Beirut

and streets. Its sculptural morphology, made up of an assembly

was divided by the so-called Green Line that separated the pre-

of metal ribbons forming a coppery arabesque in space, and its

dominantly Christian east from the mainly Muslim west for many

facades, animated with points of light that form changing images,

years. Crossing Martyrs’ Square, and running down to the port,

make the building an emblem of the new nocturnal life of Bei-

the Green Line passed through the city’s downtown. The area in

rut.” The 215,280-square-foot entertainment complex was built

the heart of that downtown where the souks were situated was

between 2010 and 2014. It has brought a good deal of night

rebuilt by Rafael Moneo (2008). Located very close to Moneo’s

lift back into an area that was rather sterile subsequent to the

buildings in the vicinity of the souks and built for the same client

rebuilding for various reasons. The cinema complex comprises

(Solidere), this project by Valode & Pistre was an indirect result of

fourteen cinemas, including two VIP theaters with a total seating

an international competition organized for the souks themselves.

capacity of 2,000; concession areas; and retail. The food court

Valode & Pistre were co-winners of that competition. (Moneo did

located on the ground floor of the complex hosts four vendors

not participate.) The complex is also close to the restored Foch-Al-

arrayed around a common seating area and located under a

lenby area, the French quarter of downtown Beirut. The architects

circular ceiling that resembles a giant carousel.

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Saint Catherine ProMenade Bordeaux, France 2014

This 807,000-square-foot shopping center includes a multiplex

complex. Valode & Pistre also fostered combined pedestrian and

movie theater and restaurants, as well as stores. It was complet-

vehicular traffic, as the earlier concept had attempted to separate

ed in 2007. Valode & Pistre won a 2002 competition organized

the two entirely, making the ground level spaces that are usually

by local authorities for architects associated with developers.

prime locations for boutiques and shops uninviting. Inside the cen-

Valode & Pistre undertook the reconstruction of these relatively

ter, an atrium and a strongly marked diagonal axis make it easier

modern buildings that no longer served their initial purpose well.

for pedestrians to see into the complex and to understand where

The Beaugrenelle Shopping Center, located in the Front de Seine

they can go. The overall idea of the architects was to render an

area of the Fifteenth Arrondissement in Paris, was created in the

essentially brutalist and dysfunctional shopping center a pleasant

late 1960s as part of Georges Pompidouâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s efforts to modernize

space that once again makes the modern city enjoyable and easy

the city. The architects hit upon the idea of slicing through the

to navigate.

huge concrete platform originally created to cover a street, as it had also made one of the main entrances to the complex into a dark tunnel. A light bridge now links the two main blocks of the complex in its stead. A continuous glazed facade took the place of the previous heterogeneous mixture that characterized the ÂŠ 2017 Rizzoli International Publications. All Rights Reserved.

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Opposite, top: Located in Villeneuve-dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Ascq close to Lille, the Stade Pierre-Mauroy (Pierre Mauroy Stadium) is a 50,000-seat stadium and a flexible performance venue. Opposite bottom: It opened in August 2012 and is the home of the LOSC Lille soccer club. It was named after its opening for the former French Prime Minister and Mayor of Lille Pierre Mauroy (1928-2013). ÂŠ 2017 Rizzoli International Publications. All Rights Reserved.

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OPuS 12 TOWER Paris, France 2002

This tower, originally built for the Crédit Lyonnais bank at La

facade was then put in place from the top up, giving what Denis

Défense just outside of Paris in 1970, was renovated by Valode

Valode calls “an opalescent sheen like the inside of an oyster

& Pistre in 2002. After determining that demolition would be

shell to the exterior—almost like a precious jewel.” At the same

prohibitively expensive, the owner of the building, the insurance

time, the technical facilities of the tower were updated, and the

company AXA, organized a competition to select an architect to

architects were able to offer potential occupants spaces with con-

renovate it. Valode & Pistre suggested a radical reconstruction

figurations considered almost ideal. The architects also made use

that would add approximately 2,150 square feet per floor and

of the large but totally enclosed underground space of the orig-

effectively do away with the original load-bearing facade. With

inal structure. They dug a hole, creating a courtyard that brings

external pillars every four and a half feet, the Crédit Lyonnais

light into a cafeteria and meeting rooms that are located below

tower had been practically opaque, rendering modernization

grade and offering daylight to visitors emerging from the under-

very difficult. The technically challenging approach of Valode &

ground parking lot. The open space below grade also permitted

Pistre involved creating a new superstructure outside the walls of

the architects to create a new, bright entrance to a building that

the existing building, driving beams into the core of the building

had previously been devoid of an obvious front and back.

AIR fRAncE hEADquARTERS Roissy France 1995

Facing the runways and visible from the boarding lounges at

and height establish a broader environment around the individu-

Terminal 2 of the Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport, the company

als who enter. The company headquarters of Air France are an

headquarters of Air France and flight crew center completed in

architectural response to a set of complex questions, calling on

1995 stress both the dynamic aspect of air transport and the kind

various sources of inspiration—the working lifestyle of the employ-

of permanence associated with a major airline. The long white

ees, the prestigious brand image of the airline, the constraints of

facade, which rises incrementally as the floors rise, creates a

a site subject to high noise levels—but also a poetic evocation of

tension like that of the takeoff of aircraft. The high pointed column

aircraft ceaselessly landing and taking off. The headquarters are

in front of the headquarters contrasts with the low horizontality of

located in the Roissypôle area of the airport, which also includes

the structure. Set on a trapezoidal lot, the project tends toward

the Continental Square office complex and Le Dôme, headquar-

full occupation of the site without seeming to fill it entirely. The

ters for Air France Consulting.

buildings that make up the 1,073,000-square-foot complex are organized around gardens. Beginning in the entrance square, three successive glazed volumes become visible. These are glass towers whose transparency reveals the depth of the site. The architects have sought to create an urban layout where variations of scale © 2017 Rizzoli International Publications. All Rights Reserved.

Opposite, top: Located in Villeneuve-d’Ascq close to Lille, the Stade Pierre-Mauroy (Pierre Mauroy Stadium) is a 50,000-seat stadium and a flexible performance venue. Opposite bottom: It opened in August 2012 and is the home of the LOSC Lille soccer club. It was named after its opening for the former French Prime Minister and Mayor of Lille Pierre Mauroy (1928-2013).

ThE cAPc IS A PLAcE fOR ARTISTS fIRST. ARTISTS hAVE ThE fREEDOm TO TAkE ThEIR IDEAS TO ThE fuLLEST ExPRESSIOn hERE. –jEAn PISTRE

ShELL fRAncE hEADquARTERS Rueil-Malmaison, France 1991

The headquarters of Shell France, formerly located on the Rue de

glazed roof, a gallery was created to give access to places of rest

Berri in Paris, were moved to Rueil-Malmaison, a largely residen-

and relaxation. With an interior street bordering a pond of water

tial town outside the city. In this suburban area, the problem was

lilies, alternation of gardens and offices, and integration into the

no longer one of fitting into Paris, but of composing, or rather,

hills of Chatou, the Shell France Headquarters have as much to

creating a site for Shell France. Valode & Pistre sought to define

do with landscape design as they do with architecture. As is often

a place, including not only the building, but also the site, by

the case in the work of Valode & Pistre, garden space and land-

offering spaces and gardens that would present employees a

scaping, here coordinated by noted American landscape architect

high-quality environment. The building, which extends to the limits

Kathryn Gustafson, are an integral part of the design. The com-

of the site, was designed using fragmentation and the articulation

plex is now occupied by another firm, Schneider Electric.

of volumes. Facing the hills of Chatou, with the Seine flowing below, in an area painted in the nineteenth century by Auguste Renoir, the project was integrated into the slope it occupies. The buildings increase in height as they recede from the riverbank, offering views of the Seine and the opposite bank. Between a car park and the offices, between the river and hills, under a sloping ÂŠ 2017 Rizzoli International Publications. All Rights Reserved.