Rehabilitation of A Residential Building, Boulevard de Sebastopol, Paris, France
Design: Agnès & Agnès Architecture
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Boulevard de Sebastopol is a residential street located in the coeur of Paris.
Nearby, we find the sophisticated neighborhood of Le Marais, Le Centre Pompidou or the Église Saint-Eustache, a gothic church, an architectural masterpiece.
Agnès & Agnès Architecture had been commissioned to renovate this block of houses,
built decades ago with local materials and following the same aesthetics of the neighborhood.
In particular, the façade had to remain visually the same, so as not to clash with the adjacent buildings.
In this case, the architectural visualizations did not offer a wide margin for creativity.
The surroundings and the general appearance of the building had already been determined.
However, we wanted to create new details in the small spaces that allowed us to do so.
And so we did.
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The interior courtyard of Rehabilitation of A Residential Building was an explosion of vegetal fantasy.
We wanted to bring life to a house that was too urban and dominated by materials such as concrete, metal or glass.
Instead, we introduced warm wood, hanging vines, ivy and honeysuckle.
During the realization of this high-end architectural visualization, we feared that we were breaking too much with the building’s own personality.
That is why our art direction created several test visualizations, as an experiment.
After a team discussion, we concluded that it was worth the risk.
And in the end it was the right decision.
The result was wonderful. And customers were enthusiastic about the result.
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Another challenge in creating the courtyard visualization was finding the perfect angle.
After trying different locations, we opted for a slightly tilted bird’s eye view.
This gives the feeling that the viewer is one of the neighbors on the upper floors, leaning out of the window to look out over the vegetation.
On the other hand, we designed visualizations of the building both in daylight and at night.
In particular, we liked this detail of the window seen in moonlight, with a Christmas pine tree inside and an orange electric light in the room.
We wanted to show different seasons, to suggest the passing of time.
We included a reference to Christmas, as a reference to European culture.
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This project has a twin work for a different area of Paris, as you can see in Residential Building Rehabilitation in Quai de Valmy.