Did you know as soon as you walked into La Piscine Roubaix that you wanted to keep the pool?
“Non. Your first impression as an architect is based partly on intuition and feeling, partly on analysis as well as knowledge of what needs to be done. Architecture can’t be purely rational, but it has to work so it can’t be just emotional. You use logic, what has been done in the past, choices based of the personality of the building. As an architect I think, what references can I draw on, not just of my own projects but those of others. Influence is based not just in the moment, the now, but of centuries ago.
With this project I had to consider how it would relate to the existing building, to create the Bouchard studio but also toilets accessibility, galleries for sculpture etc.
For me, architecture is like writing a novel, laying out the different scenes, like The Bonfire of the Vanities! Then scenes are cut together, like a film director.
What has influenced your style?
When I started in architecture in the 1970s, the excesses of the post-modern movement of the beginning of the 20th century, the ‘mouvement moderne’ were being challenged. The Gare d’Orsay was considered too ornate at that time, I remember sitting in my office nearby, in the summer with the window open, you could hear the bateau-mouches boat guides giving their speeches. Inevitably one would say “on your left is Paris’s ugliest building” – they meant Orsay. I disagreed.
The building had been earmarked for renovation, the Louvre had run out of space to showcase their huge 19th century art collection so a contest was held to redesign Orsay. I had been heavily influenced by the destruction of Les Halles, I didn’t think it was right to destroy all things. Le Corbusier competed for the project you know, he wanted to knock the station down and create a giant suitcase… he wanted to transform Paris into a huge, modern grid system...
Would you say that any one part of this museum reflects your signature?
I’m not like someone who says ‘I always do red walls’, I make ethical choices. As to my signature, that’s for others to say! For me architectural design must relate to the needs of the users. When you update existing architecture, you need to give it a new life, I think of a project as being like a town or a city, every aspect of its use must be considered. Every project has a ‘town centre’, at the Musée d’Orsay this is the heat of the station, at La Piscine, it’s the pool.
Do you have a favourite part of La Piscine Roubaix?
Non – though, I do really love the brick wall of the old factory in the front, it pleases me to see it there.
Interview with Jean-Paul Philippon