K S01 S02 S03 S04 S05 S06 S07 S08 S09 S10 S11 S12 S13 S14 S15 S16 S17 S18 P 274 15IDC Metamorphosis Paper Presentation ABSTRACT One of the most outstanding Modern building restoration of these last few years in Paris was completed recently. Te Mai- son des sciences de l’homme (MSH) or “House of the Hu- man sciences” was originally aimed to host research teams working in the feld of social science. Tis modern icon erect- ed right in the center of a very “bourgeois” district is unique in the capital city. Te building was built in 1967-1970 by the architects Lods, Depondt and Beauclair. It was restored by the historic preservation architects François Chatillon and Michel Rémon between 2014 and 2017. Many innovations that were originally implemented in the MSH building had to be addressed by the renovation architects. Firstly, the pro- gram. Invented by the historian Fernand Braudel, it com- prised several hundred ofces and a large library. Today, the need for classrooms, conference hall, coworking spaces and a smaller digital library led to many changes. Tose had to comply not only with the desire to keep the building as close to the original as possible, but also with the Paris urban regu- lations regarding built surfaces and the green space. Secondly the apparent post-and-beam steel structure inspired by Mies van der Rohe had to comply with today fre regulations. So did the post-tensioned steel and concrete foors, also prob- lematic regarding the construction code. Tirdly, the chal- lenge was also to overcome the contradiction between im- proving the comfort and energy saving and keeping the ori- ginal façade elements. 1. INTRODUCTION In the centre of Paris, very few modern buildings are as striking as the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (MSH). Its architec- ture, combining metal and glass, gives it an exceptional status in the stone built environment. Its location, at the corner of Raspail boulevard and Cherche-Midi street, as well as its imple- mentation set back from the alignment, distinguish it some more from its nearby bourgeois buildings. Looking beyond this exterior appearance, which leaves no one indiferent, the CONTINUITY THROUGH CHANGE: THE RENOVATION OF THE MAISON DES SCIENCES DE L´HOMME BUILDING IN PARIS Vanessa Fernandez, Catherine Blain (France) program and the history of the MSH make it also unique. Built between 1968 and 1970, it was originally designed to shelter research teams from diferent social science disciplines gathered around strategic geographic areas. Te Ford American Founda- tion supported the building construction with signifcant funding. One of the major actors of the MSH project, and who will be its frst director, is Fernand Braudel (1902-1985). He is a renowned and charismatic historian, involved since the mid- dle of the 1950s in the research and educational programs of the l’École pratique des hautes études (created in 1947), a part of which will become in 1975 l’École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS). Other leading personalities in the feld of social sciences are also involved in the project, such as Figure 1: Te MSH building by night in the 1970s. © s.n, Bâtir, 1970.