Between the new facilities dedicated to music in Europe, now it is include the newly released Seine Musicale, designed by Shigeru Ban and Jean de Gastines, on the Island of Seguin, west of Paris, on April 18, 2017. The project is the result of an agreement between the Department of Hauts-de-Seine and the company Tempo-Île Seguin. The project completes the city's facilities, in relation to Philharmonic on the East and places Paris at the same level as the major European capitals such as Southbank Center, London, Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie or the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome.
The Conseil départemental des Hauts-de-Seine opened the cultural facilities designed by Shigeru Ban Architects Europe + Jean de Gastines Architectes. It will have an auditorium with 1,100 seats and a main hall with 4,000 to 6,000 seats. It will mainly be used for concerts and events, educational activities and hosting the music groups in residence: Insula Orchestra and Maîtrise des Hauts-de- Seine, the children's choir of the Paris Opera. The site will also be fitted with rehearsal and recording studios, a business area of 2,660 m² and shops with social and cultural vocation.
 

Description of the project by Shigeru Ban Architects Europe + Jean de Gastines Architectes

At the “prow” of the island of Seguin, the Cité Musicale solves the paradox of remaining in perfect continuity with the urban planning project of Jean Nouvel, while at the same time constituting a signal, an emblem of the culture of Hauts-de-Seine. On the downstream end, the foundation is inclined, and allows a nest of woven wood with rounded shapes to emerge. This detaches itself from the general silhouette of the island and affirms its presence. It announces the specificity of a prestigious public and cultural program: at the interior one notices the iridescent hull of the auditorium and the activity of its foyers. To the sides, a silver sail protects it from direct sunlight. This photovoltaic solar sail is always in movement, orienting itself following the course of the sun and permitting optimal energy production.

The program organizes itself along the Grand Foyer, the spine of the project. A public reception area, this Grand Foyer is a generous and functional space that serves the public programs: the Great Hall, the Auditorium, Business Space, and the Rehearsal/Recording Poles. It is thought of as an extension of the public space in the interior of the Cité Musicale. Here we find stores, cafes, and restaurants open to all. It is flexible, and of generous dimensions in order to accommodate a great variety of events.

The Great Hall of the Cité Musicale is made to respond to the most ambitious programming. It inscribes itself in the tradition of popular Parisian great halls, all while being a veritable scenographic tool allowing for a wide variety of spectacles: concerts, musicals, live theater, conventions, etc. The hall is simple, functional, comfortable, and flexible. Its occupancy capacity is 4000 people if seated, with room for 6000 in sitting/standing position. Through scenic arrangements, which allow for extreme adaptability, the room can be adapted to all kinds of events and occupancy.

The auditorium of 1150 places, conceived specifically for accommodating a symphonic orchestra or contemporary music, is a space with excellent acoustics, designed with the precision of an instrument. It is a concert hall of the “vineyard” type — a typology retained for acoustic criteria as well as scenographic qualities. The audience is spread across multiple terraces all around the stage, creating a large geographic and sensory proximity between the musicians and the audience. Acoustically, the surfaces that compose the different terraces allow for early reflections of the orchestra, intensifying the feeling of intimacy with the musicians.

La Cité Musicale is a space of emotion, of practicality, and of sound, for discovery of all kinds of music. It is also an architecture inscribed into an urban area that is open to all. It is capable of receiving varied events: artistic, political, festive, commercial, etc. It will be a new symbol of the Vallée de la Culture and of the Grand Paris, an architectural gesture of international standards.

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Shigeru Ban Architects Europe + Jean de Gastines Architectes
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Venue
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Ile Seguin, 92100 Boulogne-Billancourt, France
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Shigeru Ban was born in Tokyo in 1957 and after studying architecture in Los Angeles and New York, he opened an architectural practice in Tokyo, in 1985, with offices in Paris and New York, and has designed projects worldwide from private houses to large-scale museums.

His cardboard tube structures have aroused enormous interest. As long ago as 1986, he discovered the benefits of this recyclable and resilient material that is also easy to process. Shigeru Ban built the Japanese pavilion for the Expo 2000 world exposition at Hanover – a structure made of cardboard tubes that measured 75 meters in length and 15 meters in height. All the materials used in the structure were recycled after the exhibition. He developed a genuine style of "emergency architecture" as a response to the population explosion and natural disasters: the foundations of his low-cost houses are made of beer crates filled with sand, and the walls consist of foil-covered cardboard tubes. A house of this sort can be erected in less than seven hours and is considerably more sturdy than a tent.

Shigeru Ban is currently a Professor of Architecture at Keio University and is also a guest lecturer at various other universities across the globe; his works are so exceptional that he was awarded the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture in 2005. "Time" magazine describes him as one of the key innovators of the 21st century in the field of architecture and design.

Shigeru Ban has designed projects such as Centre Pompidou Metz and Nine Bridges Golf Clubhouse in Korea. Current projects include new headquarters for Swatch and Omega in Switzerland.

 

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Jean de Gastines. Date of birth: 10 January 1957. Studies: 1975-1978, University of Paris-Sorbonne, Studies in History and Economics. 1978-1984, National School of Fine Arts of Paris. Bachelor of Architecture in 1984.

Professional experience. 1980, O.Gehry Agency, Santa Monica California. 1981-1983, Renovation of the Christophe de Mesnil Residence in Paris. 1982-1983. SCAU Agency Aymeric Zublenà Paris. 1985, Established private practice. 2003, In addition to private practice, the creation of Shigeru Ban Architects Europe as a minority partner.

2003 Winner of a competition to design the new Center Georges Pompidou in Metz. Architects Associates: Shigeru Ban and Philip Gumuchdjian.
2006 Winner of a competition for the design of 75 wooden houses in the Charente Maritime region. Associate Architect: Bruno Sourd.
2006 Winner of a competition for the design of 870 tourist residences in the Moselle.
2008 Winner of a competition for the scenography of the Upside-Down Les Arctiques and MingeI exhibitions at the Quai Branly musée in Paris (Sept-Jan 2008).
2010 Winner of a competition for the design of 1700 tourists within the tourist resort LES VILLAGES NATURE VAL D'EUROPE SAS (Villeneuve-le-Comte, France). Delivery: 2016.
2013 Winner of a competition for the design of the Cité Musicale de l'Ile Seguin (Boulogne-Billancourt, France). Expected delivery 2016. Associate architect: Shigeru Ban Architects Europe. Delivery: 2016
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Published on: April 26, 2017
Cite: "Opening, "Cité Musicale" by Shigeru Ban + Jean de Gastines" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/opening-cite-musicale-shigeru-ban-jean-de-gastines> ISSN 1139-6415
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