triptyque architecture + philippe starck complete the verdant villa M in montparnasse, paris
‘naturalist manifesto’ by triptyque architecture + philippe starck
The newly completed Villa M is unveiled in Paris, showing a verdant facade and architecture designed by french-Brazilian Triptyque Architecture, with architectural design and art direction of the spaces Philippe Starck. The mixed-use complex has been developed to create a new pact between cities, nature, and health, taking shape as a ‘naturalistic manifesto’ along the Boulevard Pasteur of Montparnasse.
The team at Triptyque Architecture notes: ‘We designed Villa M as a naturalist architectural manifesto: that is, a building of a new era, where man is no longer opposed to nature and the living.‘
Philippe Starck continues: ‘Villa M is a bubbling, honest, and warm place, where life is good and beautiful, and where it is good to live and eat well. Throughout the restaurant and the bar, fertile surprises, hidden places, and mental games arouse curiosity and guide the gaze of visitors, reminding them that intelligence is one of the most beautiful symptoms of humanity.’
‘villa m’ for montparnasse
Paris’ Villa M presents a collaboration between Triptyque Architecture (see more here), Philippe Starck (see more here), and Groupe Pasteur Mutualité (see more here). Thierry Lorente and Amanda Lehmann of Groupe Pasteur Mutualité saw the design of the program, which includes a Hotel by Paris Society, a co-working space, and a healthcare-focused center.
Lorente comments: ‘We could not conceive a building dedicated to health and mutualism without including a notion of hospitality, welcome, hotel business. Mutualism implies sharing.‘
a minimalist atmosphere beneath a burst of vegetation
Overall, Villa M stands out in Paris for its bucolic, ‘living building’ design by Triptyque Architecture and Philippe Starck. The geometries of the building take shape with metallic structure beams, conceived to house medicinal herbal plants, fruit trees, and medium to large sized perennial species. In this way, the project is designed as an exoskeleton. Beneath its lush facade, the building takes on a lightweight, minimalist, atmosphere composed by prefabricated pieces as in a building game.
While this living building reintegrates nature into the city, the architecture further contributes with sustainability, since it collaborates with the thermal comfort and, therefore, with the building’s energetic efficiency. The team hopes to provide citizens with a new urban experience with the advent of a ‘nature-city.’
the hotel is designed as a relaxing cocoon, with 67 rooms and 6 suites designed as green spaces
the building features a boxing and fitness club, yoga rooms, and 20 open offices and co-working spaces