Corporate Writing

Kristin

Dispenza

Architecture & Design Writer

Work In Progress: Podcast text developed for New World Design Ltd.

Introduction to "Paris"

By Kristin Dispenza

For centuries, the city of Paris has captured the imagination of the Western world. Rising from Roman ruins, it was a thriving kingdom in medieval times. By the end of the middle ages, it had become an established center for the intellectual and artistic avante garde - a distinction it still enjoys today.

The Architecture Reference Collection, Oculus Visualization LLC

Paris: A Walking Tour of Selected Buildings

Institut du Monde Arabe

Kristin Dispenza, Contributing Writer

The 1981 competition for the Institut du Monde Arabe initiated President Francois Mitterand's series of Grands Projects. Intended to host educational activities promoting cross-cultural understanding and information exchange, especially in the disciplines of science and industry, it houses a museum, a library, a documentation center, an auditorium, a restaurant, and children's workshops. In addition to accommodating this diverse program, architect Jean Nouvel and his design team at Architecture Studio were confronted with a series of dichotomies inherent to the unique nature of the project. Stylistically, the building would have to unite themes of western and Arab cultures, as well as themes of modernity vs. historicism. Physically, the site was sandwiched between the very urban faubourg Saint-Germain and the more free-flowing campus of the Université de Jussieu.

Paris: A Walking Tour of Selected Buildings

Cité de la Musique

Kristin Dispenza, Contributing Writer

The Cité de la Musique was built in the early 1990's at the southern tip of the Parc de la Villette. It was the only entry in the 1983 competition that departed from the traditional solution of placing a formal, symmetrical structure at the termination of the park's axis. Instead, architect Christian de Portzamparc constructed two completely separate buildings, each opening off of the pivotal "Fountain of the Lions" courtyard south of the Grande Hall. The west wing, which houses the National Academy of Music and Dance, is rectilinear in plan. Its overall composition is relatively centralized and controlled. But the east wing, with its loosely connected fragments, seems to explode outward from its point of entry at one of Tschumi's follies. De Portzamparc describes this half of the Cité as a puzzle, giving one a sense of the animation and plasticity with which he has imbued the structure.

Corporate Writing