Modernist duplex

This superb duplex apartment spans 128 m². The ground floor comprises an entrance hall with built-in cupboards, a vast double-height living room opening onto a lovely terrace, a fitted kitchen and a utility room. Upstairs are three bedrooms, one of which has a terrace, and a bathroom.

Located in Ivry-sur-Seine, the flat is close to all amenities, shops, schools and transport links. It is a 5-minute walk from metro line 7 and RER line C.

Keen to offer an alternative to blocks and towers of collective housing, Jean Renaudie built a series of star-shaped buildings in Ivry that spread out over the town centre, a fascinating interweaving of passageways and terraces, raw concrete and vegetation. The complex demonstrates innovation and originality in both its architectural form and the mix of functions, with shops, offices, housing and public facilities blending seamlessly together. The project, which brought the architect international renown, has been awarded the “Patrimoine du XX^e siècle ” label by the French Ministry of Culture.

In 1978, Jean Renaudie was awarded the Grand Prix National de l’Architecture for his body of work, and the Centre Pompidou, in association with the town of Ivry, held a retrospective exhibition of his work in 2002.

A member of the Atelier de Montrouge, Jean Renaudie (1925-1981) set up his own practice in Ivry-sur-Seine in 1968. His most outstanding work was the renovation of the centre of this town, on which he worked until his death, and for which he developed urban planning principles that broke with the Modern Movement and the Athens Charter.

He sees the city as “combinatorial”, attempting to implement “a logic of complexity”. For housing that is all different from one another, he designs star-shaped buildings with numerous accessible terraces, pedestrian walkways and complex configurations that allow different functions to interweave.

Jean Renaudie was responsible for a similar urban renewal project in Givors town centre (1974-1981).