Quai Branly Museum
Paris, France · 2006
Photo · Photo by Roland Halbe
An exterior precedent showing the use of cantilevered, color-blocked volumes to break up a long facade, combined with an elevated undercroft and integrated wood louvers for solar control.
- What we like about this project
- The underside of the cantilevered boxes features small, integrated downlights.
Materials
- metal-cladding
- glass
- wood-louvers
- steel-girders
Visual identifiers
- cantilevered-boxes
- colored-facade-panels
- elevated-structure
- wood-louvers
Style tags
- high-tech
- expressionist
- contemporary
Visual tags
- museum
- cantilever
- color-blocking
- shading-devices
- elevated-volume
- Geometry
- A series of cantilevered, colored rectangular boxes project outward from a long, elevated horizontal volume supported by heavy columns.
- Facade system
- Rain-screen metal panel cladding on cantilevered volumes with a continuous louvered glass curtain wall behind.
- Structural guess
- Steel truss system supporting cantilevered volumes, resting on a heavy steel or concrete transfer slab.
- Spatial scale
- Large-scale institutional building with multi-story cantilevered gallery boxes.
- Lighting
- Bright, direct sunlight from the upper left, casting deep, sharp shadows beneath the cantilevered volumes.
- Atmosphere
- A bold, sculptural presence where vibrant colors contrast with deep shadows under bright daylight.
- Environmental context
- Set against a clear blue sky with young trees visible at the ground level, indicating an urban park or landscaped setting.
- Spatial experience
- The building is elevated above the ground level, creating a sheltered, shaded undercroft while the projecting boxes break up the massive scale of the facade.
- Composition rhythm
- A rhythmic progression of projecting boxes in varying warm tones (red, orange, burgundy) set against a continuous horizontal band of louvers.
- Style reading
- High-tech expressionist architecture with playful color-blocking
- Program
- Museum or cultural institution
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- metal-cladding, glass, wood-louvers, steel-girders
- Visual identifiers
- cantilevered-boxes, colored-facade-panels, elevated-structure, wood-louvers
- Style tags
- high-tech, expressionist, contemporary
- Visual tags
- museum, cantilever, color-blocking, shading-devices, elevated-volume
- Geometry
- A series of cantilevered, colored rectangular boxes project outward from a long, elevated horizontal volume supported by heavy columns.
- Facade system
- Rain-screen metal panel cladding on cantilevered volumes with a continuous louvered glass curtain wall behind.
- Structural guess
- Steel truss system supporting cantilevered volumes, resting on a heavy steel or concrete transfer slab.
- Spatial scale
- Large-scale institutional building with multi-story cantilevered gallery boxes.
- Lighting
- Bright, direct sunlight from the upper left, casting deep, sharp shadows beneath the cantilevered volumes.
- Atmosphere
- A bold, sculptural presence where vibrant colors contrast with deep shadows under bright daylight.
- Environmental context
- Set against a clear blue sky with young trees visible at the ground level, indicating an urban park or landscaped setting.
- Spatial experience
- The building is elevated above the ground level, creating a sheltered, shaded undercroft while the projecting boxes break up the massive scale of the facade.
- Composition rhythm
- A rhythmic progression of projecting boxes in varying warm tones (red, orange, burgundy) set against a continuous horizontal band of louvers.
- Style reading
- High-tech expressionist architecture with playful color-blocking
- Program
- Museum or cultural institution
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture