Hôtel Industriel
26 rue Brunesseau
75013 Paris
France

Dominique Perrault 1990 

Perrault's Hôtel Industriel in the south of Paris is a highly successful combination of transparency and minimalism. Perrault won the commission in competition, giving him the opportunity to create this essential precursor to his Bibliothèque Nationale François Mitterand, which was completed five years later and a couple of blocks to the North. 

But whereas storing books behind glass walls in the Bibliothèque has its practical difficulties, the warehouses, workshops and offices in the Hôtel Industriel function well, expressing their different characters through what they stack up on the internal brise-soleil metal shelving which runs continuously round the building on the inside of the glass.

Built in the unglamorous shadow of a junction in the périphérique, Paris's orbital motorway, the Hôtel Industriel is part of an attempt to prevent the loss of industry from the city to out-of-town sites. It houses about forty small industrial businesses, as well as Perrault's own office.

Simon Glynn, 2001

How to visit

Rue Bruneseau runs south from boulevard Masséna, cutting beneath the périphérique between Porte d'Ivry and Porte de Bercy.

Take the RER to Boulevard Masséna (line C), and head south to cross first the railway line and then boulevard Masséna (a fast, multilane road, but with traffic light crossings). 

Alternatively, but involving a longer walk, take the Metro to Porte d'Ivry (line 7) and head east along the boulevard Masséna; rue Bruneseau runs to your right immediately after crossing the railway line.

The building can be seen from the outside, but is a working building not open to the public.