Rue d’Aubervilliers, Paris XIX

Rue d’Aubervilliers used to be a run down area but it has recently undergone huge redevelopment. In the dense urban tissue of Parisian housing, this building’s individuality means it stands out from its surroundings. Composed of simple elements, it offers an image of sobriety through its monochrome appearance and continuous cladding. Wrapped in subtle white-varnished brick, the building occupies the corner of the rue d’Aubervilliers and rue Paul Laurent.

The entrance is presented in a way that gives the impression of an interior extension of the public street. This vast ‘exterior’ communal space is home to the letterboxes and bikes, and reveals the depth of the plot whilst making the area attractive.

The work on the skyline allowed us to vary the building’s silhouette and also make use of roof space. It offers the neighbours a view of differing scales and levels, as well as providing some diversity for the inhabitants.

This project was ultimately built in response to the surrounding landscape. It is a crossroads, symbolic of the different elements that make up this site: a meeting point.

“Jungle and Zoo” would be our alternative interpretation of the 21st century French town. The ‘Zoo’ is the urban development zone and its rules that organise space (biotopes) and species (typologies.) The jungle is the existing town where we weave in and out of houses, clearing a passageway towards the light whilst competing with surroundings and devising the right scale, trying to adapt and change what already exists.