La Seine Musicale

The site was not selected by chance. It is an island in the middle of the Seine–the center of the region–the beating heart of the Vallée de la Culture in Hauts- de-Seine. With La Seine Musicale, Seguin Island has become its beacon.

Photography by © Shigeru Ban Architects

Beyond the metaphor, it is also a reality. Firstly, the name: La Seine Musicale. It links music, an art that touches our souls and brings them together at each concert, to the river that shapes our region, and carries us well beyond it. The name calls to mind both its local foundation and its international outreach. The name speaks to us all. There is also the architecture, recognizable and remarkable, created by Shigeru Ban and Jean de Gastines, who have admirably full the wish of the Department and its partners to offer a place that is both ambitious and welcoming.

Photography by © Shigeru Ban Architects

Last but not least, it is a cultural facility that is opening its doors: a place for live performance, emotions, and leisure, which also provides space to talented artists in residence (Laurence Equilbey and Insula Orchestra, Gaël Darchen and La Maîtrise des Hauts-de-Seine, Philippe Jaroussky and his Académie Musicale).

Photography by © Shigeru Ban Architects

A place for life, where the extraordinary meets the every day: the auditorium, the modular main hall, the garden, the unen- closed boutiques, and the numerous venues for musicians including spaces for ensembles in residence, rehearsal studios and the like. La Seine Musicale is equally the object of a partnership contract that has united the Department des Hauts-de-Seine andTempo-Île Seguin since 2013. Music, song, applause, pregnant pauses, children’s laughter… La Seine Musicale is ready to receive its audiences and to resonate with a thousand sounds.

Photography by © Shigeru Ban Architects

Project Info
Architects: Shigeru Ban Architects
Location: Paris, France
Year: 2017
Type: Cultural Center
Photographs: Boegly + Grazia photographers