Since we moved to Europe two weeks after our wedding, we never had an official honeymoon. So, being the sneaky ultra-planner I am, I signed up for the 2011 Paris marathon in hopes we could have a pseudo honeymoon in THE romantic city. We rented a small studio apartment above a bakery and woke up smelling freshly baking bread every morning. It was heaven. My only complaint was that one week was simply not enough time. Typically after running a city for 4 hours I get it, I've seen it, I'm ready to eat some pancakes (or in this case a slice of Chocolate pie I had eyed down the night before) and take a nap. But in Paris, a whole 6 days was just not enough. Our apartment and the race was entirely along the right bank and while we toured the left a few times, we unfortunately never wandered too far.
Wallpaper's article about the new Voltaire building, an extension to the Halle aux Farines at Paris Diderot University makes me wish we roamed a bit farther. Maybe I would have gotten a peak of this beauty by Antonini + Darmon Architects being built.
When I see this I think: poetic, empathic, simple yet dynamic. Its monochromatic sheathing is enlivened by a gentle curvature and elegantly finite detailing. The mood it creates is bright, layered; it seems to ethereally disseminate into the overcast sky. The alternating blocks of contrasting grays seem like a subtle rhythmic nod to the scale of both her neighbors. In a society of huge bravado buildings, I dig this lady's quiet charm. No, I don't want a whole city full... but one or two sleepy beauties will do. It reminds me of a polite, sophisticated version of The New Museum. You think?
Photos from Wallpaper Magazine online...
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