French Architecture, Images, Architects, Developments France, Property Designs, News

French Architecture : Buildings

Key Architectural Projects in France, Europe

post updated 3 November 2021

France Architecture : links

Architecture in France

Diriger aux Bâtiments de Francais

e-architect select the best examples of French Architecture.

We have 7 pages of French Architecture selections.

French Architecture : news + key projects (this page)

French Buildings : A-C

French Architectural Designs : D-F

French Building Developments : G-J

French Architecture Designs : K-L

French Building Designs : M-R

French Architecture Developments : S-Z

French Architecture News

Architecture News for France arranged chronologically:

7 Oct 2013
Jean-Claude Carrière Theatre, Montpellier, southern France
Design: A+Architecture

photo © Marie-Caroline Lucat
This a colourful new timber building in a lovely mature landscape site in the south of France. The style is based on the harlequin – the external faces and some of the interior is decorated with a diagonal timber lattice. The building promotes sustainable, low-energy design.

4 Oct 2013
Albert Einstein High School, Bagnols sur Cèze, France
Design: NB Architectes

photo : Paul Kozlowski
The High School Albert Einstein, Brassens site, is a vast building of the 1960s. Built following a strict and repetitive pattern, it is composed of large linear buildings from 60 to 80 m length and large metallic workshops surrounded by large dilated and unattractive space. Site’s analysis shows several functional gaps.

30 Sep 2013
MUCEM Museum, Marseille, southern France
Design: Rudy Ricciotti

photo : Gabrielle Voinot
The Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations Marseille
The Museum is organised on three levels with an array of exhibitions, an auditorium and a bookstore. The rooftop is a particular feature and is set to become an iconic venue for the city with beautiful panoramic views of the sea and harbour. At night a lighting scheme designed by Yann Kersalé creates a magical atmosphere with shades of blue and turquoise.

23 Aug 2013
Montlouis-sur-Loire Housing, northern France
Design: Renaud BROISSAND architect DPLG

photo © David BOUREAU and Courtesy of R. BROISSAND
These residential buildings are part of an ambitious urban study for the creation of a new town center – the Zone d’Aménagement Concertée (ZAC), a special planning district known as the “Heart of the City” – in this northern French town of 12,000 inhabitants. A vast area of land was made available before beginning this urban development project, which comprises a diverse range of residences and services surrounding a landscaped public park.

19 Aug 2013
Municipal Offices in Lacq, northern France
Design: Architect Gilles Bouchez

photo © Arthur Péquin pour DuPont™ Corian® – all right reserved
Architect Gilles Bouchez has devised an ingenious and eye-catching solution to the problem of solar gain on the south facing side of his design for the new municipal office building in Lacq, France.

2 May 2013
Presqu’ile de Caen Redevelopment, north west France – exclusive to e-architect
Design: MVRDV

image from architects office
Caen Masterplan
La Grande Mosaique, MVRDV selected to transform 600ha former industry in Caen, Normandy. SPLA, the public development agency for the transformation of the Presqu’ile de Caen, has chosen MVRDV out of 3 competitors to transform the 600ha area consisting of former industry and ports.

17 Apr 2013
EuropaCity, Paris / Roissy, northern France
Design: BIG

image from architect
EuropaCity France
The new urban center EuropaCity is located between Paris and Roissy in France’s most populated region Île-de-France. EuropaCity will offer a mixture of retail, culture and leisure on an unprecedented scale around the defining theme of the European urban experience, diversity and culture.

French Building – Recent Designs

2 Apr 2013
Refuge du Goûter, Saint Gervais Les Bains, south east France
Design: Déca-Laage + Groupe-H

photo : Gudrun Bergdahl
Alps Building in France
To withstand the winds, we studied fluids mechanics and the aerodynamic properties of the exterior structure. The research on convex structures by the architecture office led them to decide on an ellipse form, which, once projected into three dimensions, became a spheroid. The principal axis of the ellipse was placed facing the prevailing winds in order to deposit the snow in a snow melter at the back of the refuge.

21 Mar 2013
Le Temps Machine, Joué-le-Tours, north west France
Design: Moussafir Architectes

photo © Hervé Abbadie
The Time Machine France
An unusual conversion iof an existing building: the architects suggested maintaining the patio and some significant fragments of the structure, including that of the concert hall – an identity-shaping element of the old building. Highly prominent on the facade, this prow-like form once contained the audience seating.

22 Feb 2013
Lycée René Goscinny, Alpes-Maritimes, south east France
Design: José Morales architecte

photo : Philippe Ruault
Lycée René Goscinny
The project site is part of an already settled area where valleys have been deeply sculpted by water over time. The building has been designed to reflect the story of that environment and seeks to tie in with all of these interwoven rich territories.

French Architecture

We’ve selected what we feel are the major French Buildings, in chronological order:

Eiffel Tower, Paris (1889)
Villa Savoie, Poissy (1929)
Villa Stein, Garches (1927)
Unité d’Habitation, Marseille (1952)
Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp (1955)
Maisons Jaoul, Neuilly-sur-Seine (1956)
La Tourette Monastery, Lyon (1957)
Pompidou Centre, Paris (1976)
The Pantheon, Paris (1790)
The Louvre Museum Pyramid, Paris (1989)
Arab du Monde lnstitute, Paris (1988)
Carré d’Art, Nîmes (1993)
Millau Viaduct, Gorge du Tarn (2005)

Comments on the French architecture selection welcome. These French buildings aren’t merely chosen for their fame – we have left out the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe – but because each one achieved a high level of architectural performance.

French Office Buildings