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Loci Anima
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Cinéma Aquaboulevard, Paris

The Gaumont Aquaboulevard cinema is a direct pro­duct of its site:
Nestled beside the water park com­plex, it shares the same DNA — a story that the archi­tec­ture sets out to nar­rate. From this rela­tion­ship emerges a cho­reo­gra­phy of ramps and stair­cases that swirl through space. The goal is to echo the appeal and qua­li­ties of its neigh­bor: offe­ring a bold, spec­ta­cu­lar spa­tial expe­rience.

Through its inte­gra­tion into a play­ful and dis­tinc­tive ver­ti­cal cir­cu­la­tion sys­tem, the pro­ject offers the vie­wer a new kind of cine­ma­tic jour­ney — where ente­ring the buil­ding and rea­ching the thea­ter becomes an adven­ture in itself. The design revolves around a cen­tral idea: radi­cally rei­ma­gi­ning the tra­di­tio­nal entry and exit sequences of a cinema.

Programme 13 screens, VR area, 2,158 seats
Floor area 10 500m²
Project owner Pathé Gaumont Cinemas
Location Paris 15
Design team Architect: Loci Anima ; Structural Engineering: Khephren ; Fire Safety Engineering: Casso
Date 2017 (unbuilt)

The Gaumont Aquaboulevard cinema, loca­ted in Paris’s 15th arron­dis­se­ment, is an ico­nic 14-screen mul­ti­plex that ope­ned in 1998. In 2017, the archi­tec­ture firm Loci Anima, led by Françoise Raynaud, was com­mis­sio­ned for an ambi­tious reno­va­tion pro­ject aimed at trans­for­ming the cine­ma­tic expe­rience into a unique sen­sory jour­ney.

An immer­sive and play­ful archi­tec­ture
Loci Anima’s pro­ject draws ins­pi­ra­tion from the site’s DNA, adja­cent to the Aquaboulevard aqua­tic com­plex, to create an ori­gi­nal archi­tec­tu­ral sce­no­gra­phy. Curving ramps and stair­cases weave through the space, offe­ring spec­ta­tors a spec­ta­cu­lar spa­tial expe­rience. This approach aims to res­tore the cinema’s appeal by pro­po­sing an unpre­ce­den­ted volume, per­fectly har­mo­ni­zed with its aqua­tic neigh­bor.

An unrea­li­zed pro­ject
Although concei­ved with an inno­va­tive vision, the pro­ject was never exe­cu­ted. The cinema’s tem­po­rary clo­sure in 2021 due to a tech­ni­cal inci­dent, fol­lo­wed by its reo­pe­ning in December 2021, mar­ked a tran­si­tio­nal per­iod for the esta­blish­ment.

Conclusion
Loci Anima’s pro­po­sal for the Gaumont Aquaboulevard cinema illus­trates a desire to renew the cine­ma­tic expe­rience by com­bi­ning archi­tec­ture, design, and emo­tion. Although unbuilt, this pro­ject reflects the agency’s ambi­tion to reinvent cultu­ral spaces through a sen­si­tive and inno­va­tive approach.

Cinéma Aquaboulevard, Paris — © Loci Anima
Cinéma Aquaboulevard, Paris — © Loci Anima