23.004.20

Protected: Archi-Folies 2024

France

Paris

Context

As part of the organization of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, twenty National Schools of Architecture and Landscape (ENSA-P) have been invited to create twenty Archi-Folies in the Parc de La Villette, ephemeral pavilions designed to host French sports federations during the Games. During the event, introductory sports courses are offered to the public in the vicinity of these pavilions. After the Games, the pavilions will be dismantled and redeployed as local sports facilities for federations or local authorities.
We worked with a team of students from ENSASE (Saint-Etienne) to design and build the gymnastics pavilion.

Particularities

The pavilion consists of a circular gallery, punctuated by six-metre-high columns and supported by wooden porticos. A trampoline jumping canvas is stretched around the outer perimeter of the cylinder to create a porous façade and protect the structural elements from the outside. The floor and ceiling are made of re-used CLT panels supplied by Circular CLT. At the heart of the ring, an open-air arena is made up of boxes covered with gymnastic floor mats, serving as a demonstration area for the athletes. A ribbon of solid wood, serving as seating, undulates around the illuminated stage, occasionally interrupting to allow access.
The rhythms and materials of this construction refer to the apparatus and the diversity of figures performed, inviting visitors to immerse themselves in the world of gymnastics.