Report: State Theatre in Montreuil
Alvaro Siza’s 1993 master plan – with this state theatre at its heart – attempts to restructure Montreuil’s centre, located east of Paris, following a crude refurbishment in the 1970s. Dominique Coulon has designed a building which mediates between the city centre – with its axis oriented to the Paris Bastille – and the rural environs. It is like a knot which joins spatial, geographical, urban and symbolic dimensions. Coulon’s notion of city and architecture becomes clear in the dense building massing, which conceals a secret, but has spaces which are open for exchange and communication, as well.
