Something of an architectural force majeure is sweeping across Paris, and it’s just not a case of news media covering architecture but rather the opposite: Snøhetta have been chosen as architects for the new headquarters of the Le Monde newspaper in Paris. The Norwegian rising stars emerged victorious among the top-tier firms invited to submit proposals, as the international media outlet looks to move from its current home in Christian de Potzamparc’s iconic but pricy contemporary structure. The other seven participating practices read as a who’s who of in-vogue industry names: Shigeru Ban Architects, David Chipperfield Architects, Manuelle Gautrand, Hardel and Le Bihan, OMA, Renzo Piano and 3XN.
The winning design features a distinctive, shape-shifting façade that incorporates a mixture of transparent, translucent and opaque fragments, comprising a surface that appears homogenous from a distance but increases in complexity as you approach. LEDs will be embedded within the building’s surface, intended to display “abstract levels of data” that represents the company’s continuous “flow of information.”
The proposed Le Monde headquarters. Via Snøhetta
The commission takes on added significance given the timing of the announcement, which comes just two weeks after the terrorist attack on the headquarters of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Snøhetta’s co-founder Kjetil Thorsen alluded to the project’s resonance within this context, saying that the firm “recognizes the importance of this task in the current debates on the content of freedom of speech.”
Snøhetta’s selection is the latest in a long line of high-profile projects to be proposed by big-name firms in the French capital over the last year. Major cultural buildings by Frank Gehry and Jean Nouvel have opened in recent months, while SANAA and Herzog & de Meuron remain bogged down in struggles to get their respective retail and residential projects off the ground.
Herzog and De Meuron’s triangular tower. Via Global Site Plans
An appeal court has blocked SANAA’s renovation of the landmark La Samaritaine department store, while Herzog and de Meuron saw their proposal for a pyramidal skyscraper rejected by councillors last November, although the debate over the viability of that project — orchestrated by developers Unibail-Rodamco — is set to rumble on well into the future. Then there is BIG’s utopian vision of a new district entitled ‘Europa City,’ an 800,000-square-meter scheme that is presented as a new form of sophisticated theme park.
So, what is spurring the influx of starchitecture in Paris?
It is nothing new for the historic fabric of this city to be interrupted by controversial contemporary architecture: The Eiffel Tower, I.M Pei’s Louvre Pyramid, and the Centre Pompidou all caused a stir, incongruously descending upon a distinctive urban landscape before settling in as valuable civic landmarks. The primary difference at present, though, is the frequency with which standout projects are being put forward.
One might think that economic recovery following the global downturn of 2008 could be instrumental in recent developments. The trouble is, the economy of France has by no means recovered: this time last year, International Business Times journalist Shane Croucher called the country “the sick man of Europe” for its “sluggish” return to strength.
The Le Monde proposal incorporates a public square. Via Snøhetta
It comes as no surprise, then, that the majority of these new commissions are privately funded, with Jean Nouvel’s outlandish Philharmonie concert hall standing out as a rare example of excessive expenditure that survived the government’s funding cuts on public projects in recent years. Other major projects have been backed by developers and corporations — Louis Vuitton, Le Monde, Unibail-Rodamco, et al — and signal the private sector’s intent to spearhead a recovery in the face of faltering progress on the part of the state.
Some cities have experienced an explosion of starchitecture for relatively clear reasons. Miami, spurred by a resurgence in its real estate market, has been inundated with recent proposals by Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Herzog & de Meuron, and BIG. Abu Dhabi is currently erecting a star-studded line-up of civic monuments on its coastline line, attempting to introduce tourism as a fallback in an economy reliant on vast oil wealth; Gehry, Nouvel, Hadid and Norman Foster are cashing in accordingly.
Via Snøhetta
For Paris, though, things are rather less clear-cut. While the state attempts to make pragmatic decisions over which civic commissions will aid long-term economic growth, private corporations appear to be forging ahead, hoping to capitalize on a projected rise in collective public income over the next decade and more. These companies clearly believe in the power of name-brand architecture firms to lead this endeavor, and the track record of delivery by well-established practices reduces the risk and increases the security of their investments.
Parisians will not accept these landmark projects without heated debate — Herzog and de Meuron and SANAA will know this better than anyone. However, it seems likely that the digital façade of Snøhetta’s Le Monde Headquarters will be broadcasting stories of many more ambitious architectural ventures in the near future: Starchitecture is alive and well in France, for now.
Yours famously,
The Angry Architect