Le Monde Newspaper Headquarter

For this project, Elizabeth de Portzamparc has taken into account the particular lifestyle of journalists at Le Monde. Like monthly or weekly magazines, daily newspapers are subject to the imperatives of deadlines. The architect has provided communal living spaces in which each person can find isolation and peace or take part in group conversations. That way, she has created spaces – cafeteria, dining-room and winter garden – with very different atmospheres, thus creating different levels of intimacy. There are places where everyone is visible, but also more discreet nooks and small closed rooms: a relaxed, playful and stimulating cafeteria, a sober, calm but dynamic dining room, and a severe, but at the same time restful and dreamlike winter garden.

A large 5,5 meter high central circular space, composed of bright and transparent metal latticework, houses the cafeteria’s two small, superimposed rooms, where one can settle as in a cocoon. The lighting, the oak floor and a juxtaposition of four different tinges of red give the place warmth.

The designer maintains this approach in the long dining-room, with its wide views of Paris and its space punctuated by porches. This large area is made warmer by the vibrant “matt gold” material, which relieves the severity of the great columns.