mikou design studio visit

in late january designboom visited the offices of mikou design studio in paris.


selwa and selma mikou
image © designboom


house of arts and culture, beirut - model
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the firm was founded in 2005 by twin sisters selma and salwa mikou, after many years
of collaboration with international architecture agencies, in particular renzo piano
and jean nouvel, on projects on large private and public buildings, residences, offices
and important redevelopments of public areas within the framework of re-qualification
of urban and harbour planning.

since then the duo have developed numerous projects not only in france but internationally,
with a focus on cultural, educational, housing and offices.

'every project is an excuse for re-questioning and redefining the meaning of a brief,
a function, and an urban, social and human context, in order to invent new ways of living,
places for sharing and gathering that are more sensitive and more sensual, and which
stimulate feelings. our aim is to get away from preconceptions of form and function
in order to transmit more and better.' - selma and selwa mikou


house of arts and culture, beirut - model
image © designboom


house of arts and culture, beirut - model
image © designboom

in 2009 they developed the house of arts and culture, beirut, lebanon.
the building was not conceived as a monolithic mass, but rather in a manner to stage
the overlapping of cultural layers and the process throughout which they become
real spaces, transitional spaces for the exchange and intertwining of creativity.


house of arts and culture, beirut - model
image © designboom


house of arts and culture, beirut


bateau feu theatre, dunkerque
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they recently won the competition to renovate the existing bateau feu theatre, dunkerque
in france.


bateau feu theatre, dunkerque
image © designboom


bateau feu theatre, dunkerque
image © designboom


bateau feu theatre, dunkerque
image © designboom


bateau feu theatre, dunkerque


image © designboom

in 2008 they were invited to develop the institute for islamic culture in france.


the institute for islamic culture, paris
image © designboom

the institute for islamic culture, rooted in paris' 18th ‘arrondissement' and its history,
is also a place of ‘radiation' which has a duty to understand and communicate these
foreign cultures, to bring them a new look which will enrich and densify the imaginations
of locals and parisians alike. on rue stephenson as on rue doudeauville, each floor can
be read separately through of gently shifting volumes, suggesting a movement of all
facades. the classic system of pillars and beams is replaced in the project by a principle
of structural arabesques, arches following gentle curves that intersect non-orthogonally.
on the façade, the arches are superimposed on more offset white corian arches, which
creates a game of shifting and relief from inside and outside the building. this mineral
and slightly opalescent material (in reference to the alabaster) gives the whole building
a diaphanous and mysterious character.



the institute for islamic culture, paris
image © designboom


the institute for islamic culture, paris
image © designboom


the institute for islamic culture, paris


the institute for islamic culture, paris


mikou design studio
image © designboom