Project: L'ASTROLARBRE
L'Astrolarbre from KOZ ARCHITECTES interviewed by Tomoko Sakamoto from Actar
What does 'L'Astrolarbre' express as a project name?
The project's name is a contraction between it's location on "villa de l'Astrolabe" and the french word for a tree, "arbre". When we "discovered" the place there was this beautiful maple tree that had grown unattended along very derelict old buildings. We just couldn't imagine to cut it down and since keeping it was a sort of small challenge we decided that all the project would be centered on it: you can see it from the street through the cut in the facade, the staircase literally climbs alongside it, all living rooms are turned towards it even if it means exposing the bedrooms to the (small) street. In this very dense urban fabric it gives a sort of protective cover and a very delicate relation to nature and seasons.
This project seems to offer specific qualities of individual housing in terms of its scale, unit distribution and material. How did you manage to achieve the richness of these spatial qualities with the cost limitations of social housing?
The project's spatial and volumetric richness is derived from playing with the limits of urban regulations: in a dense urban environment like Paris every square meter is highly valuable and justified! Volumes are simple, without any constructive feat. But the cleverest approach in terms of cost reduction offering spatial value is the lack of enclosed distribution spaces: outdoor hall and corridors are cheaper than their classic counterparts , allow more opportunities to bring natural light on all faces of the units, and create a more natural transition from the realm of the public space to the intimacy of each home, keeping in touch with the central courtyard.
What activities take place in the courtyard, and how is it used by the residents? Is it a communal space (other than visually), or is it privatized?
We were very much in favor of a communal use of the courtyard (with a barbecue, big table, children playground etc.), but our client did not support the idea, mainly because it requires a lot of continuous social work with the inhbitants to maintain
a good use of these common spaces. A small part of it is communal (with access to a rainwater tank), but most of it is given as a front garden to the ground level and some first floor units: some people leave it to their kids, others grow vegetables.
We wanted to give a very freindly feeling to it with low wooden barriers invaded
by creepers to encourage informal occupation of the courtyard.