Music Conservatory

Part of a new urban script, the conservatory in Paris’s 17th arrondissement, designed by Basalt Architecture, features a copper cladding perforated by the beat of the melody.

The conservatory stands at the interface of architectural scripts linked to the Paris’s building heritage.

On the edge of the 17th arrondissement to the south Haussmann-style buildings look across at social housing of a more recent period. The conservatory is located at a strategic point due to its theme: the 17th arrondissement’s history is closely linked with French music. It is also strategic due to its location on the rue de Courcelles, an important corridor for entering the city with its sight-line extending from the Boulevard Périphérique between two architectural eras and styles.

Basalt Architecture, Claude Debussy Conservatory, Paris, France

Aligned along the rue de Courcelles, the project is an oscillation from down to up through the play of external surfaces. Visible from the Périphérique, its architectural treatment identifies it as a value-adding element by separating it from the publicity landscape that exists along the Parisian ring-road.

On one hand the dance studios in the upper floors with their expansive windows participate actively in the building’s visual signal by standing out from the city with a specific volume that responds to the apartment buildings to the north. On the other side to the south, the building’s pleated skin and its perforations that dialogue with the classic Haussmann-style buildings with their sturdy architecture.

The architects conceived the conservatory as a place for exchange, emulation, a crossroads of practices. This is the idea that has driven the project from the auditorium at its heart to the music rooms. A place where people play, learn, dance and create. Which is how the volumes came to life: a skin perforated by the beat of the melody that emerges and takes shape in the outer walls.