jakob + macfarlane studio visit

jakob + macfarlane studio in paris, france (above) brendan macfarlane in front of images of ‘orange cube’ image © designboom

designboom met up with  jakob + macfarlane (dominique jakob, brendan mcfarlane) at their studio in paris on a recent trip to the city. located on the right back of the french capital, the four-storey courtyard building retains a large portion of its original character with interspersed structural columns punctuating the simply organized work space. mainly finished in white, the office maintains a casual and humble atmosphere, with walls marked over time with holes from pin-ups of drawings and panels.

with a broad net of interest and expertise – architecture, technology, landscape, topography, archeology – the firm’s work explores all facets of their design from form to concept to fabrication. projects tend not to fall into a specific aesthetic category but instead focus on creating an environment that responds and engages in dialogue with its inhabitants. since their first realized project in 1998, the french duo has created a great number of designs ranging from a retrofit project for a bookstore to the first-place competition win of ‘docks de paris’.

‘orange cube’ by jakob + macfarlane in lyon, france (2011) image © roland halbe

facade image courtesy RBC

view of the void from an outdoor terrace space image © roland halbe to see more images of the ‘orange cube’ and its interior, click here

image © designboom

image © designboom

study models of ‘t(h)ree’, a series of shelving units (2003) image © designboom

‘florence loewy bookshop’ by jakob + macfarlane in paris (2001) image © jakob + macfarlane

images © jakob + macfarlane

image © jakob + macfarlane

image © designboom

image © designboom

finished and process shots of previous projects image © designboom

‘georges’ by jakob + macfarlane in paris, france (2000) image © jakob + macfarlane, nicolas borel

interior forms image © jakob + macfarlane, nicolas borel

image © jakob + macfarlane, nicolas borel to see more images and drawings of the project, click here

model of ‘blown data house’ (2007) image © designboom

‘docks en seine’ by jakob + macfarlane in paris, france (2008) image © jakob + macfarlane, nicolas borel

(left) interior stairs images © jakob + macfarlane, nicolas borel (right) exterior detail of skin images © paul raftery

view to the water images © paul raftery

extruding volumes over the dock images © paul raftery

exhibition space as seen from the outside images © paul raftery

rooftop space image © jakob + macfarlane, nicolas borel to find out more about the project, click here

image © designboom

image © designboom

‘FRAC center’ by jakob + macfarlane in orléans (2011) image © jakob + macfarlane

rendered view of the plaza image © jakob + macfarlane

rendered interior view image © jakob + macfarlane

3D model image © jakob + macfarlane

wireframe model of ‘FRAC center’ image © designboom

physical models of ‘harold (100 logements sociaux pla et pli)’ image © designboom

‘harold (100 logements sociaux pla et pli)’ by jakob + macfarlane’ in paris (2008) image © jakob + macfarlane, james ewing

facade form image © jakob + macfarlane, nicolas borel

landscaping image © jakob + macfarlane, nicolas borel

private meeting room image © designboom

brendan macfarlane portrait © designboom