Philharmonie de Paris

Jean Nouvel creates an international center for music

Inaugurated in 2015, the Philharmonie de Paris, designed by star architect Jean Nouvel, is not just any concert hall: it houses the largest concert hall in Paris. Viewed from afar, the six-story building with its aluminum façade of 340,000 bird motifs glistens like fish scales. Yet the contours of the Philharmonie are extraordinary in their own right. Depending on where one stands, the building resembles either huge, telescoping stone slabs or a pirate’s hat.

Located in the Parc de la Villette in the north-east of the city, the futuristic-looking building features a center for music education and fifteen rehearsal rooms of different sizes. The centerpiece of the structure is the large concert hall, with seating for 2,400. There are also various bars and a restaurant offering panoramic views over Paris. Distributed throughout the concert space where they punctuate the two stories, the balconies are what the architect (who has great experience in designing concert halls, having also designed the opera house in Lyon and concert halls in Lucerne and Copenhagen) refers to as ‘immaterial sheets of music and light’. Their oval shape affords a perfect view of the central stage from each of the free-floating galleries.

Duravit calls the tune, on the other hand, in the bathrooms and toilet areas, with three different product lines. The elegant washbasins from the Vero range adorn the Philharmonie as classics of modern design. The concert hall also features Starck 1 urinals and Starck 3 toilets, the creation of star designer Philippe Starck.