Manuelle Gautrand has developed a concept that would magnify their cars in a building with strong symbolic presence, a kind of corporate totem composed of eight vehicles stacked on plateaux one on top of the other.
The arrangement forms a gigantic upright display around which visitors move in an ascending/descending spiral movement via flights of stairs and landings. At the top, the sculptural erection opens superb views up and down the avenue, over the city and across the nearby gardens and river.
The cars are displayed on revolving circular platforms under a faceted mirror-ceiling that fragments and multiplies their lines and details. Besides enhancing the presence of the display models, the effect accentuates the vertical reality of space and creates an exhilarating sense of lightness.
Around this scenography, the skin is all in faceted glass and plays on the distinctive shape of the Citroën logo: the chevron. At street level on the Champs-Elysées, the façade begins as a simple flat curtain wall.
The double chevron soon appears proliferating as it rises in free and inventive array right up to the summit. The glass front unfolds a gigantic origami, coloured by diaphanous white and red film that lets subdued clear light into the interior.
Video: Citroën has chosen architect Manuelle Gautrand to renovate its premises at 42, Avenue des Champs-Elysées in Paris.
In 2004, the premises located at 42, Avenue des Champs-Elysées and currently occupied primarily by a restaurant chain, will be restored to the owner, Citroën.
To mark the event, Citroën has initiated an architectural project to renovate the premises and thus to showcase its prestigious history, as witnessed by the Champs Elysées.
Citroën has made this decision as a carmaker with pride in its history and confidence in its future. The brand's dynamic vitality is illustrated by a rich product offering.
Citroën wanted a powerful and original architectural plan for this historic, prestigious building.
Video: Parisian Manuelle Gautrand is making her mark on the design world. Designing such architectural feats as the Citroën showroom in the Champs-Elysées and the new La Gaîté Lyrique, an interactive space for music and digital art, Gautrand is renowned for innovation in contemporary design. Here. Crane.tv visits Gautand at her studio to find out why she sees beauty in inner city spaces, and how to lose yourself in Paris.
Project Data Project name: Citroen Flagship Showroom Location: 42 Avenue des Champs-Elysées, 75012 Paris, France Program: Car showroom Project area: 1,200 m2 Schematic design: 2002
Design development: 2003
Construction: 2004-2007
Award: The contractworld.award 2009 prize winners!, Category "Shops/Showrooms/Exhibition stands"Shop concepts, stores, showrooms and sales floors, exhibition stands, shopping centres, malls.
