MAD Architects’ first built project in Europe is nearing completion in the French capital of Paris. Led by Ma Yansong, MAD was awarded the project in 2012 following an international design competition, working in collaboration with French firm Biecher Architectes. The building, named “UNIC,” emerges as part of a mixed-use masterplan envisioned adjacent to the Martin Luther King Park: a 10-hectare green space.
Unlike the static Haussmann apartment blocks that define Paris, UNIC is characterized by a fluid interaction with nature. Undulating floor plans form a series of terraces, creating dynamic spaces within and expansive gardens and balconies on the exterior. Each asymmetrical level slightly tapers as the building ascends, with the upper floors revealing panoramic views of the city.
Situated in an evolving socio-economic boundary, UNIC reinterprets the conventional residential typology with a design influenced by sinuous floor plates, vertically extending the neighboring parkland. Combining residential density with raised gardens, the project is “an upward-growing organic arrangement, one that blurs the boundaries between architecture and nature.”
The scheme’s program includes affordable housing, a kindergarten, retail spaces, and other ground-floor community resources. A metro station is integrated into the building to link the community with the wider city. In contrast to cities that distance the connection between ground and nature as they rise, UNIC seeks to create an environment that is generous in natural space, offering a contemporary vision of how nature can be integrated into the built environment.
The scheme is expected to be completed in September 2019.
Year: 2012-2019
Typology: Residential
Status: Under Construction
Expected completion: September 2019
Site Area: 1,033 sqm
Building Area: 6,600 sqm
Building Height: 50 m
Principal Partners in Charge: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano
Associate Partners in Charge: Andrea d’Antrassi, Flora Lee
Design Team: Zhao Wei, Wu Kaicong, Daniel Gillen, Jiang Bin, Tristan Brasseur, Juan Valeros, Gustavo Alfred van Staveren, Xin Dogterom, Juan Pablo, Cesar d Pena Del Rey, Natalia Giacomino, Torsten Radunski, Rozita Kahirtseva
Client: Emerige
Lead Architect: MAD Architects
Team Coordinator: BIECHER Architectes
Executive Architect: BIECHER Architectes
Structure Engineers: BECIP – BET Structure
MEP Consultant: ESPACE TEMPS – BET Fluides
Landscape Designer: PHYTOLAB – BET Paysagiste
Interior Designer: Charles Zana
Project Management: Artelia
Construction Company: Vinci Sicra Ile-de-France
