The City of Music Cultural Center is the flagship project for the transformation of the Isle of Seguin, located in the southwestern suburb of Paris, Boulogne-Billancourt. Until the end of the 1990s, the Renault automobile plant was based on its territory, but then production was taken out of the metropolis, and the Paris authorities decided to turn the island into an oasis of cultural life.
The master plan for the development of the territory in 2009 was developed by Jean Nouvel, who set aside most of the island's area for green spaces and comfortable walking areas, but the implementation of this project has been postponed so far. In 2010, a new competition was announced - for the project of a multimedia center, which would become both a mecca for music lovers and the "headquarters" of those who deal with it professionally. This competition was won by Shigeru Ban, and four years later, the finalized and approved project entered the stage of active implementation.
The Cité Musicale Center will include numerous rehearsal and recording studios and administrative offices, an open-air stage, an auditorium with 1,500 seats and a main concert hall that can accommodate up to 6,000 spectators at a time. It is this hall that will become the hallmark of the entire complex: the architect gives its volume an expressive shape of a slightly flattened ball, thanks to which critics have already compared the new center to a “nest”.
The shell, invented by Shigeru Ban, also supports this association: the concert hall is braided with a net of wooden slats forming an intricate pattern of triangles and rhombuses. Another significant element of the project will be a 50-meter steel "sail" soaring over the volume of the hall. It is assembled from 1000 solar panels that will sensitively track the movement of the sun during the day and provide most of the electricity needed for the complex.
