La Seine Musicale

Location
France, Boulogne-Billancourt
Project owner
Hauts-de-Seine Department
Architects
D Shigeru Ban Architects ; Jean De Gastines Architectes
Delivery
2017
Subsidiary
Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France

A cultural gem in western Paris

Like a giant ocean liner ready to set sail, La Seine Musicale, designed by Shigeru Ban and Jean De Gastines, is organized along a 230-meter covered street that runs through it from its forecourt to the downstream tip.

This street, open to the public, is home to shops, cafés, and restaurants whose bay windows open onto outdoor balconies that run along the banks of the Seine.

Facing the forecourt, the building's façade is covered with a giant 800 m² screen. To its left, a monumental staircase leads to the upper part of the vessel, covered with a 7,410 m² garden, below which stands the striking spherical silhouette of the auditorium.

This iconic element of the project, structured by a wooden frame reminiscent of a bird's nest and covered with a glass skin, is magnified by a gigantic solar sail mounted on rails and covered with more than 1,000 m² of photovoltaic panels. This structure, unique in the world, allows the sail to pivot around its sphere according to the sun's path.

Under this protective cocoon, a 1,150-seat auditorium, a true place of acoustic excellence, unfolds its volumes like a jewel in its setting.

The interior of the building also houses a large 6,000-seat multipurpose hall equipped with three different stages, as well as the Maîtrise des Hauts de Seine choir and several ultra-modern recording studios.