Best of #Paris

This week our Best of # is on Paris: ten stories of just opened projects and current exhibitions, witness of a beautiful and strong capital which, with the hashtag #JeSuisEnTerrasse, urges us not to stay at home so as not to give in to the blackmail of terrorism.

– On 117 rue de Ménilmontant in one of Paris’s busy northern neighborhoods, VIB Architecture took possession of a long and narrow plot to construct and rehabilitate several buildings for a mixed-use program: a residence with 89 student housing and a nursery for 66 children.

– The major retrospective on the beat poet John Giorno at Palais de Tokyo, organised by his partner, the artist Ugo Rondinone, is an extraordinary occasion to see a wide range of his work toghether with the homage from a selection of contemporary artists.

– Kengo Kuma brings to the Jardin des Tuileries a concept between art and architecture, that “offers an organic geometry by a geometric composition of wooden elements”.

– A preview of two copies of Kiosque, a modular and removable retail space by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec commissioned by Emerige, opens to the public in the Jardin des Tuileries, Paris.

– The exhibition at Fondation Cartier in Paris, on one century of Congo’s art – prolonged until January 10, 2016 –, has been a great audience-puller not only for André Magnin’s intelligent curatorial idea but also for the quality of the fringe initiatives including a music programme and website.

– A delicate and discreet building clad in a fine lacework facade – completed by Avenier Cornejo in Paris’ 20th arrondissement – provide a reassuring atmosphere where children can grow and prosper.

– “A trip to Miami” is the concept behind this hamburger restaurant in Paris, for which CUT architecture merged the lexicon of the diner booths and colorful beach-huts.

– In Paris Fumihiko Sano completed a space to host the Japanese wrapping ceremony creating a mystical atmosphere through the use of wood and stone.

– In Paris 11th arrondissement Gaëtan Le Penhuel open up a little-noticed cul-de-sac revealing the new park edged with social housing units and a nursery for 60 kids.

– 45,000 pieces of curved brass, iron threads and porcelain trasform the Galerie Azzedine Alaïa into a forest of suspended jewels and invite to enter the imaginary space of Kris Ruhs.  

Top: Michael Wolf, Paris Abstract, 2014