Doubling an urban school's capacity with a minimal footprint added to the existing,the project extends Paris's real estate logic while reinventing it. AR Studio d'Architecturestransformed this constraint into an architectural manifesto: 42UP preserves the 1962 building and builds upward. The campus grows from 3,600 m² to 9,025 m², accommodating 2,400 students instead of 1,200-without sprawling outward.
A suspended metal bridge-building rests on a 42-meter beam, freeing the third floor from columns entirely. Five new levels float above the original structure, creating a breathtaking balcony over Paris.This juxtaposition embodies a thesis: density and lightness coexist.Extensions anchor the base;spiral stairs (Chambord staircases) channel circulation; accessible roofs,green the skyline.
A perforated white-steel skin unifies old and new.This 1.17×1.17m grid subdivides into triangles on the superstructure, creating a living relief that shifts throughout the day and with weather.It shields 1,400 heat-generating computers from Paris sun while flooding interiors with natural light. The façade dialogues with neighboring dormitories (NOC42,"Réinventer Paris" laureates),weaving a campus in symbiosis with its neighborhood. 42UP opens its doors to the city.
Inside,the design mirrors School 42's revolutionary pedagogy: no professors,no courses, open 24/7,tuition-free. No cloistered classrooms-open plateaus with intimate alcoves nestled behind stairwells. Street art transforms four grand staircases into artistic journeys. An amphitheater, library,sports hall, recording studios, dining hub,and rooftop gardens optimize every square meter.The chronic underuse plaguing educational facilities (typically 20% occupancy) is here eliminated by continuous operation.
42UP crystallizes three urgent architectural imperatives: reuse and vertical addition over demolition (environmental responsibility),equal access to education (tuition-free,4,500 enrolled students), and campus as urban living lab (co-designed with students, residents,artisans, landscapers).
This architecture is not an isolated object-it is a social infrastructure, a campus that lives with the city.Here, frugality is not constraint; it is innovation.