inside outside shrouds new parisian building with a perforated textile façade

textile architecture by moussafir + inside outside

Amsterdam-based Inside Outside takes to Paris to create a dynamic façade curtain for Moussafir Architectes. While the Petra Blaisse-founded firm works mainly in landscape architecture and interior design, principles from each field are borrowed to design this latest project. The vertical, four-piece array of translucent curtains are created with PVC mesh and are perforated to create the subtle and abstracted silhouette of a ‘Prunus lusitanica’ tree. What’s more, the reconfigurable assembly offers the building both an interior atmosphere and an exterior identity that are in constant flux according to the needs of its occupants. 

image © Jacques Moussafir

an ever-changing façade in paris

Inside Outside designs the façade curtain in collaboration with Parisian firm Moussafir Architectes to shroud a residential and office complex in the heart of the city along the Rue du Vertbois. During the project’s earliest design phase, the team was tasked with developing a curtain to be installed outside a glass and aluminum façade which would serve to both protect against glare and ensure privacy. Inside Outside notes that textile architecture was already a signature of the studio and is often employed to create transformable interiors and exteriors with its flexibility and reconfigurability. 

‘This four-piece curtain not only shades and cools the building’s interiors and changes the façade’s composition,’ Inside Outside tells designboom, ‘it also withstands the forces of nature that prevail in the narrow urban street in which the building is located.’

image © Jacques Moussafir

the luminous curtain

With its textile façade by Inside Outside, the building in Paris takes on an undulating and textural expression which glows softly when illuminated at night. The structure integrates linear LED lighting which helps to transform the effect of each curtain as it is opened or closed via a motorized system with built-in sensors.

The image of the Prunus lusitanica tree is rendered with circular perforations which enhance the façade’s permeability and cast playful spotted shadows throughout the interiors during the daytime.

image © Hervé Abbadie
image © Hervé Abbadie

image © Hervé Abbadie

apartment view | image © Hervé Abbadie

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project info:

design: Inside Outside / Petra Blaisse and Moussafir Architectes

location: Rue du Vertbois, Paris, France