stephane malka: ame-lot student residences boasts recycled wood pallet exterior in paris, france all images courtesy of stéphane malka architecture

 

 

 

stephane malka‘s proposal for a central parisian student residence pairs the surplus of industrial production and the need to reclaim the urban built form with its recycled crate-covered ‘ame-lot’ residences. in an appropriation of almost duchampian proportions, the french architect and graffiti artist has proposed a skin of wooden pallet, able to fold and create a modular geometry, aimed at breathing a new life into an existing building.

 

held using horizontal hinges, the new envelope posits a new environmental approach that consists of layered superimpositions of existing materials and system– a step beyond mere recycling, but rather the assignment of a new meaning to discarded, single-use micro structures by designing them to become a macro strategy. the power of accretion is on full display in the work; a full reversal of the often damaging relationship between the environment and unabashed consumption. the architecture proposes that walls should be thickened and the urban form need be an ever-changing space that invites in the byproducts of its ecology.   

stephane malka: ame lot student residences clad in recycled wood palletsstreet views show the folded skin actually adding visual complexity to the urban landscape 

stephane malka: ame lot student residences clad in recycled wood palletscloser view of the wooden palette system 

stephane malka: ame lot student residences clad in recycled wood palletsthe crates are fitted with hinges  the allow optimal flexibility for shading and privacy 

stephane malka: ame lot student residences clad in recycled wood pallets

stephane malka: ame lot student residences clad in recycled wood palletsthe  proposal seeks to thicken the urban interstice 

stephane malka: ame lot student residences clad in recycled wood palletsthe french shutter typology meets the byproduct of industrial overproduction

stephane malka: ame lot student residences clad in recycled wood palletsthe new envelope is  additionally directional and articulated the existing building’s mass 

stephane malka: ame lot student residences clad in recycled wood palletselevation view 

stephane malka: ame lot student residences clad in recycled wood palletsmodel view of the building with folded modules 

stephane malka: ame lot student residences clad in recycled wood palletselevation view of the light-catching palette skin

stephane malka: ame lot student residences clad in recycled wood pallets

stephane malka: ame lot student residences clad in recycled wood palletsmodel view of the building sans folded modules 

 

stephane malka: ame lot student residences clad in recycled wood palletsdiagram of the building system to scale