Transitive Nexus

Situated along the Seine and connected directly to the
southeast face of Les Docks Cité de la Mode et du Design,
designed by Paris architects Dominique Jakob + Brendan
Macfarlane, the project called for a contextual and urban
response to the revitalization of the former industrial
riverside district in the 13th Arondissement of Paris.

The architectural approach began by analyzing social
networking data relating to nightlife in the district. This
information was used as an initial force for design.
Transitive logic was incorporated as a rationale
for “folding” the data into a primitive form, and genetic
algorithms were built to replicate the primitive within the
existing structure, using curves extracted from the form
of Les Docks as a parametric input. The final propagated
form completes the transitive statement, representing the
information from the district. A mesh of surfaces derived
from the illumination of Les Docks was applied to create
smoothness and continuity between Les Docks and the
new architecture.

Working in collaboration with Fashion Marketing students,
the program provides exhibition space for designer Jorge
Ayala on the riverside level, as well as an auditorium for
exhibition. Workshop and sales spaces are organized on a
roof plaza, in a similar manner to Les Docks' rooftop.
Movement along the Seine is maintained by bending the
flow of traffic underneath the building form. A band of
circulation from Les Docks' Wanderlust Bar plaza moves
along the facade and penetrates the roof terrace,
providing visibility of the Seine in places not provided
within Les Docks.

The project is a design within a series developed between
two studios conducted and critiqued by Professor LaRaine
Papa Montgomery and Christian Sottile, Dean of the
School of Building Arts at the Savannah College of Art and
Design, Dominique Jakob, and Brendan MacFarlane in
Lacoste, France.