Building Retrofit


ARCHITECTURE REVIEW

At Edge of Paris, a Housing Project Becomes a Beacon


Frédéric Druot
La Tour Bois-le-Prêtre A public housing project in Paris has been upgraded from a standard tower into a pleasing landmark, above, with sunny balconies. More Photos »



PARIS — Hard by the noisy highway, overlooking a cemetery and a former garbage dump, La Tour Bois-le-Prêtre glimmers on a spring morning. Sheathed in a fresh cloak of glass balconies and corrugated aluminum panels, it rises on the edge of this city amid a landscape of decaying cement-and-brick housing blocks.
Multimedia

    Druot, Lacaton & Vassal
    La Tour Bois-le-Prêtre, before its renovation. More Photos »



    This half-century-old tower used to be one of those blocks. Its makeover, by a creative team of local architects — Frédéric Druot, Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal — is a case study in architectural ingenuity and civic rejuvenation. It’s a challenge to urban innovators, too. Instead of replacing the old tower with an entirely new building, the designers saw what was worthwhile about the existing architecture and added to it.

    No comments:

    Post a Comment

    Free E-book "Readings in Urban Planning and Design"

    Readings in Urban Planning and Design This manuscript expands upon, and compliments, chapters in the book “Planning Connections – Human, Nat...