Pop-Up Building | Wra Atelier

Aubervilliers is a sweet and messy suburb located in the north of Paris. The Charles Tillon street looks like the messiest street in town. But an attentive look allows to realize that the amazing buildings along the East side called the "blue roofs" (or the Smurfs), articulates effectively this contrasted site composed of huge towers, small housing and a cemetery.

The Smurfs were designed by the firm Fiumani & Jacquemot architects in the 80’s, but the project will remain unfinished. The Pop-Up Building is constructed in the empty central part of that triangle shaped and coloured composition.

The Wild Rabbits Architects choose to complete the work using their own tools to reinterpret the originals goals of the blue roof’s designers. They extend the base of the building and design large vertical walls as a reference to the towers of the district. Then they develop in their own way a scale gradation in relation with the pavilions and the steles of the nearby cemetery. Blue is integrated by the reflections of the sky in the cladding.

Finally, they compose a face for the "blue roofs". A pop-up construction that could have sprung from a book, folds of giant papers, juxtaposition of large windows entirely open to the south.

Hard to find out, the seven-storey building is actually built in wood.

The Pop-Up Building demonstrates the ability of wooden construction to put itself at the service of an agile and desirable architecture.