Embassy of Australia in Paris

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Australian Embassy in Paris

The distinctively modernist Australian Embassy in Paris is situated in the heart of the French capital, on Rue Jean Rey overlooking the palisades of the Seine and located a mere 400 metres west of the Eiffel Tower. The Embassy, and several pieces of its original furniture, was designed by Australian architect Harry Seidler, with Marcel Breuer and Pier Luigi Nervi being consulting designers.

Like many of Seidler's other works, the Embassy was built from precast modularised concrete, with a quartz and granite faced exterior and prestressed precast floors. The embassy is situated on a triangular shaped block, and comprises a pair of nine-storey quadrant shaped buildings. The two acutely curved buildings are positioned to avoid contact with each other (think of an "S" being formed from the arcs of two semi-circles), to maximise views of the river and the city. Together the buildings follow the axes of the Champ de Mars. One building houses the chancery, Australia's permanent missions to UNESCO and the OECD, and additional office space now leased out; the other contains 34 staff apartments.

Work started on the Embassy in 1973, and it was formally opened in 1978.

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