The Marc Steckar Cultural Center (ECMS) was built in the city of Bessancourt, north of Paris, and is a stone and glass building dedicated to the study of music.

The site is a vacant lot owned by the city and located a few hundred meters from the town hall. Its location is in continuity with its historic downtown. The site is marked on the north by the imposing presence of a church and an urban environment that is mineral heavy; the stone church is massive and reinforces this homogeneity. The building distribution on the site is diffuse and invites the proposal of a singular, additional object that can join the existing group.

To maintain the current urban order and avoid disorder, the architects set up a gradual insertion through three sequences: First, a translucent curtain wall that draws the contours of a patio in space, strengthening the cultural character of the building. Then the facade, 13 feet high, was created in order to reduce frontality. Finally, the highest part of the project, nearly 20 feet, connects our project to the neighboring buildings.

By creating this intangible patio we create a point of urban concretion, an attractive singularity. The formal limit of the building is blurred. Protected from wind and noise, this space is frequented by children and parents.

The project works on a sum of ambiguities. The project is open but defensive, brutalist in some ways, but with a gentle nature that avoids any frontal posturing.