Sonata for Cello & Engine: Lofted Music Room Above Garage, Chaville, Paris

In Old Europe, unlike its younger sister, America, spaces are small, and good spaces are hard to come by. This cellist in Chaville, a suburb 12 kilometers from the center of Paris, needed a rehearsal room, but only had space available atop the garage. That’s where the brilliant team at Cut Architectures stepped in for a remodel of the 1920s home and an addition, which makes perfect use of the given resources. The result: a lofted rehearsal room with an ample view of the street, as well as an impeccable, geometrically irregular exterior. Downstairs, two perforated aluminum side-swing doors, which open for the owner’s car, and a gate that opens up to a garden at the back of the property. No space was wasted, there is no aesthetic clash with the two adjoining houses and the rehearsal room looks just like a space for art should. It seems to hang suspended, perpetually floating above and beyond its material surroundings.

With a name inspired by a 2005 Eclectik interview with fashion guru Sonia Rykiel, Cut Architectures are Benjamin Clarens and Yann Martin, a dynamic duo who had been collaborating professionally since 2005 and joined forces to found their own studio in 2008. The Paris-based team dabbles in urbanism, landscaping, object design and interior design, and they have also collaborated toward less commercial goals, in producing various art installation. Their mission statement professes to the desire of wanting to erase the traditional boundaries between art and usability, as well as between the various fields of design.

(Source: Cut-Architectures.com)