The Madrid partners Fuensanta Nieto and Enrique Sobejano, in collaboration with the Parisian firm Marin+Trottin, finished first in the bid to design the Cité du Théâtre in Paris, carrying the day over the other two finalists, Foster+Partners and Fabre Speller. The competition was organized by the French Culture Ministry and three prestigious theater institutions: the Comédie-Française, the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique, and the Théâtre National de l’Odéon. The new uses will be housed in the Ateliers Berthier, built in 1895 by Charles Garnier for the Opéra de Paris.

The project is part of a plan to regenerate the Porte de Clichy area, the banner of which is Renzo Piano’s courthouse (see Arquitectura Viva 208). Conceived as a raised garden adjoining the park, the complex includes a longitudinal new building with a green facade that embraces the existing sheds, following the broken geometry of the old Thiers wall.

The 24,000 square meters of the ‘City of the Theater’ will harbor six modular performance halls, besides the salle Garnier revamped into a generous covered space giving access to the auxiliary facilities shared by the three resident institutions.