Philharmonie de Paris — Diamond-Scale Metal Facade Detail

4 October 2017 · Paris

Diamond-shaped aluminium panels tile the curved skin of the Philharmonie de Paris in an interlocking grid, each facet angled just enough to catch the light at a different value. Up close, the surface reads less like architecture and more like something biological — scales on a creature mid-motion. The structural void running through the centre pulls the pattern apart and then snaps it back together. Jean Nouvel's parametric facade earns the extreme close-up.