Blockhead Building Gets a Thumbs Up, Nice, France

I have to say that normally I’m not a fan of modern architecture. I prefer the grand old buildings from the Belle Époque, and Art Nouveau just sets my heart aflutter. But there are a few modern structures that I really appreciate and one of them is in Nice, France. I lovingly call it the “blockhead building” but officially it’s known as la tête carrée, or “the square head”.

This building is the administrative “headquarters” for the library just next door. It has seven floors: three in the neck and four in the head. It’s claimed to be the first, habitable sculpture in the world.

You might wonder how the 40 or so people that work inside the building manage without any windows (at least that’s what I was wondering). The secret is a sheet of perforated aluminium which covers the exterior and acts like a sheer curtain, allowing those inside to see out, but those outside can’t see in. This is too bad, because I would really love to have a peek inside. Unfortunately it’s closed to the public.

Yves Bayard was the architect who designed the adjacent library building and then he won the contract to build the administrative offices. For years, he had toyed with the idea of turning a sculpture into a building and this seemed to be his chance. He enlisted the help of his Niçois friend and sculptor, Sacha Sosno. Sosno had already created several small sculptures in the “square head” style and together they started working to turn one of these designs into a habitable piece of art. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).