Tour of 104 for third-year students. Set design exercise.

Visit to 104. Exhibition : Contemporary Art Fair “
” Set Design Course + Project: Design, Invest

“CENTQUATRE-PARIS is a space for artist residencies, artistic production, and the presentation of the arts for audiences and artists from around the world.” No sooner have we passed through the portico and past the neon-lit façade welcoming us from Rue Curial than we are immersed in a surprising and vibrant cacophony, offering a thrilling sight of dancers in rehearsal. A Parisian hub of sociocultural diversity, this space impresses with its expansive layout and the bustling flow of people coming and going—from the large, repurposed naves of this former Paris City Funeral Home, which now serve as a gigantic plaza, to the various adjacent spaces (performance hall, exhibition gallery, café, etc.). The public space extends into the interior of the building.

During this visit, third-year interior architecture students at the Académie Charpentier were invited to wander freely through the spaces of the current exhibition— the Contemporary Art Fair—and then to reflect on how such a venue operates, as explained during a guided tour. At first glance, the arrangement of all the spaces raises questions about the in nterior interconnectivity, and the influence that subspaces exert on one another, as well as their ability to expand beyond their own boundaries. A second line of thought, informed by the activities taking place on-site, explores the various relationships to the stage and the performing arts, raising questions about the concept of performance—whether it be a live show, a rehearsal, or even expressed abstractly through the social interactions that unfold. All of these spatial and scenographic approaches—these encounters with the venue—will enable all students to conduct both a functional and a social analysis prior to the project-based courses, in order to subsequently develop an inclusive (collective) and sustained project-based approach.