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M Building by STEPHANE MAUPINThe M Building is a <a href="http://inhabitat.com/solar-heated-paris-housing-by-jakob-macfarlane-adapts-to-natural-elements/">Parisian housing</a> complex with a unique shape that emulates the alphabet letter. The housing development offers the experience of a village rather than an apartment block - each dwelling unit, set on a 45-degree angle, faces the stack of apartments on the other side, providing an intimate atmosphere for the occupants. The generous porches and ample daylighting adds to the inviting nature of the design by <a href="http://www.stephanemaupin.com/spip.php?article18">Stéphane Maupin Architectes</a>, which reimagines how <a href="http://inhabitat.com/habitat-44-is-a-glass-clad-greenhouse-housing-project-in-france/">social housing</a> can adapt for a new urbanism.1
M Building by STEPHANE MAUPINThe two-toned building is placed on Rue Rebière, a narrow street in northern Paris, across from a graveyard which by code cannot have the building facing it.2
M Building by STEPHANE MAUPINThe building is capped with a solar electric array to supplement the electricity consumption of the 20 apartments.3
M Building by STEPHANE MAUPINThe orientation is such that morning light falls into one side of the complex and the other receives<a href="http://inhabitat.com/daylighting/"> natural light</a> in the afternoon.4
M Building by STEPHANE MAUPINThe openness of the design also avoids the monolithic quality of larger housing blocks, and the staggered, non-uniform apartments provide visual texture to the neighborhood.5
M Building by STEPHANE MAUPINThe building’s unique shape is further emphasized with a vanilla stucco exterior on the street side and vivid <a href="http://inhabitat.com/modern-mexican-school-keeps-cool-with-solar-shading-skin/">corrugated steel </a>on the interior, providing a dual identity without expensive materials.6
M Building by STEPHANE MAUPINThe<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parquetry"> parquet wood </a>terraces soften the metallic exterior, and a maze of simple steel railings demarcate each apartment’s patio.7
STEPHANE MAUPIN M HousePaths across the building add routes of neighborly egress.8
M Building by STEPHANE MAUPINSection and elevation of M Building9
M Building by STEPHANE MAUPINThe narrow floor plan at street level10
