Bernard Tschumi is an architect, writer, and educator, commonly associated with deconstructivism. Son of the well-known architect Jean Tschumi, born of French and Swiss parentage, he works and lives in New York City and Paris.
Parc de la Villette
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The Parc de la Villette is the third-largest park in Paris, 35.5 hectares in area, located at the northeastern edge of the 19th arrondissement.
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The park houses one of the largest concentration of cultural venues in Paris, including the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie (City of Science and Industry), Europe's largest science museum, three major concert venues and the prestigious Conservatoire de Paris.
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Parc de la Villette is served by Paris Métro stations Corentin Cariou on Line 7 and Porte de Pantin on Line 5.
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Parc de la Villette focuses on the contrast between defined and undefined circulation. The defined circulation is essentially arbitrary, whilst the paths to the follies are undefined, but are also direct and have purpose.
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The follies themselves however, are ambiguous in function. In this park, the designed space acts a frame, in which spontaneous events can occur - thus reinventing the architecture every time it is reinterpreted. It is a hybrid of form and experience.
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Since the creation of the park, museums, concert halls, and theatres have been designed by several noted contemporary architects, including Christian de Portzamparc, Adrien Fainsilber, Philippe Chaix, Jean-Paul Morel, Gérard Chamayou, Méziane Azaïche, Oscar Tusquets, and Jean Nouvel, in addition to Mr. Tschumi.
Park attractions
The park houses museums, concert halls, live performance stages, and theatres, as well as playgrounds for children, and thirty-five architectural follies. These include:
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Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie (City of Science and Industry), the largest science museum in Europe.
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La Géode, an IMAX theatre inside of a 36 metres (118 ft) diameter geodesic dome.
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Cité de la musique (City of Music), a museum of historical musical instruments with a concert hall, also home of the Conservatoire de Paris.
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Le Zénith, a concert arena with 6,300 seats.
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Cabaret Sauvage, a flexible small concert stage with 600 to 1,200 seats.
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Le Trabendo, a contemporary venue for pop, rock, folk music, and jazz with 700 seats.
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Le TARMAC (former Théâtre de l'Est Parisien), venue for world performance art and dance companies touring from "La Francophonie".
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Le Hall de la Chanson (at Pavillon du Charolais), theatre dedicated to French song with 140 seats.
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WIP Villette, "Work In Progress–Maison de la Villette," a space dedicated to Hip-Hop culture, social theatre, art work initiatives, and cultural democracy.
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Espace Chapiteaux, a 4200 m² permanent space under a tent for contemporary circus, resident and touring companies perform.
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Pavillon Paul-Delouvrier, a chic contemporary event space for conferences, workshops, and social events designed by Oscar Tusquets.
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Théâtre Parc-Villette, a small actors' theatre and acting workshop with 211 seats.
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Cinéma en plein air, an outdoor movie theatre, site of an annual film festival.
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Grande halle de la Villette, a historical cast iron & glass abattoir that now holds fairs, festive cultural events, and other programming.
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Centre équestre de la Villette, equestrian center with numerous year-round events.
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Philharmonie de Paris, a new symphony hall with 2,400 seats for orchestral works, jazz, and world music designed by Jean Nouvel, opened since january 2015.