Description of project by Jean-Paul Viguier et Associés
The Paris-La Courneuve center of the Banque de France (Central Bank) rises on the 4.5 ha wasteland of the former Babcock steel factory along the A86 motorway. This project is a reflection of the challenge that is the “Grand Paris” and the major changes happening north of the French capital, of which the Olympic Games in 2024 will be a part. The opening of the Banque de France is the sign of a renewal both for the industrial site and the entire area, the soon to open «Fabriques des Cultures» bringing an added cultural value to the area while preserving its industrial past.
This new facility is a major step in the Banque de France’s plan to rethink its real estate and modernize its equipment with the creation of an industrial site compatible with its current objectives.
So as to handle soon after opening over 1 billion banknotes (25% of the national reserves), this project involves a specific material and technological infrastructure suited for highly secured and automated facilities.
The nerve center of this architectural plan is a safe composed of three juxtaposed cubic volumes.
Its main function is the high-speed automated control of banknotes. It is designed to automatically destroy worn out banknotes and put aside the ones deemed suspicious. Its secondary function is the storage of the banknotes in the 26-meter high safe.
Even though the building is supposed to be perfectly sealed, the emphasize on natural light is at the heart of the project. The white ceramic facade presents an alternated hollow pattern that softens the building’s defensive appearance and creates a vibration depending on the amount of sunlight. This attachment to natural light is also demonstrated inside the building where a triangular void was turned into a planted patio open to the staff.At the entrance of the complex, two former Babcock buildings, dating back to 1923 for the brick one and 1987 for the concrete one, face the “safe”. These two units have been restored and organically connected to one another to be reborn as a unified office building that will be open to the public.
At the entrance of the complex, two former Babcock buildings, dating back to 1923 for the brick one and 1987 for the concrete one, face the “safe”. These two units have been restored and organically connected to one another to be reborn as a unified office building that will be open to the public.
The general plan creates a dialogue between each entity of the site but also with the entire area. It questions the concept of the architectural openness of a site of which the primary function is to be fully sealed. The project is also a reflection of one of the main concerns of Jean-Paul Viguier et Associés’: the relation between heritage and contemporary architecture.
Jean-Paul Viguier is an architect based in Paris. After graduating from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1970, he was, along with Jean Bossu and Georges-Henri Pingusson, a founder member of a study unit called Unité Pédagogique 5. In 1973, he was awarded a "Master of city planning in urban design" by the University of Harvard and, after returning to France, wrote a column on urban architecture for the Urbanisme journal. From 1975 to 1992, he collaborated on projects with Jean-François Jodry.
In 1981 and 1983, he won the jury first prize for his competition entry for the Bastille Opera House, and joint first prize for the Tête Défense project. In 1986, along with Alain Provost, Patrick Berger and Gilles Clément he won the competition to build André Citroën Park in Paris, which would take six years to complete (1986-92), and then the French pavilion at the Seville World Expo in 1992.
His agency, Jean-Paul Viguier SA d’Architecture and later Jean-Paul Viguier et Associés, Architecture et Urbanisme, is internationally renowned thanks to its headquarters for France Télévisions in Paris, Coeur Défense, the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower hotel, the McNay Museum of Art in San Antonio, Texas, the first American museum of modern art to be built by a French architect.
Jean-Paul Viguier was awarded the Grand Prix by Moniteur des Villes for André Citroën Park, the Equerre d’Argent d’Architecture (distinction) for the Business Centre in Rue d’Aubervilliers in Paris' 19th arrondissement, and the Architectural Record–Business Week Award in New York for the Astra Pharmaceutical Headquarters in Rueil.
Honours:
Knight of the French National Order of Merit.
Officer in the French National Order of the Legion of Honour.
Commander of the French Order of Arts and Letters.
Honorary Fellow of the A.I.A. American Institute of Architecture.
Member of the French National High Commission for Historic Monuments - Ministry of Culture and Communication (1988-2005)
President of AFEX (French Architects Overseas) (1997-1999)
