VIB Architecture student accommodation and nursery school in rue Ménilmontant, Paris

InParis, in the district of Belleville made famous by the stories of Daniel Pennac and the fantastic characters of the Monsieur Malaussène books, VIB Architecture has designed new student accommodation and a nursery school.

Architects Franck Vialet and Bettina Balus, founders of VIB Architecture, worked on an extended lot at no. 117 rue de Ménilmontant. The presence of a half-timbered building to preserve, meant that the lotwas divided into two parts: one on the side of the street and the other facing the interior of the block. This pre-existing structure became the passageway between one function and another in the new buildings.

VIB Architecture has designed two new buildings and renovated the third. All the structures outside the buildings and the nursery school have been interpreted as a single large garden that creates links with the open spaces of the nearby lot and with rue de Ménilmontant. The architecture with different volumes and finishes, meets the specific contexts for which it has been designed and, as a whole, becomes part of the heterogeneous nature of the urban spaces and architecture of the Belleville district, featuring buildings from various eras, with different heights and functions.

(Agnese Bifulco)

Project: VIB Architecture - Franck VIALET + Bettina BALLUS Location: Paris, France

Images courtesy VIB Architecture, photo by Cyrille Lallement

www.vibarchitecture.com

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