Designer Jean Nouvel claims the new 2,400 venue is unfinished and acoustically untested.

The new Philharmonie de Paris concert hall, situated in the Parc de la Villette area in the north of the French capital welcomed its first audience last night under a cloud of controversy after it emerged that the building’s architect, Jean Nouvel would boycott the opening of the new venue.

In a statement, published in French newspaper Le Monde, Nouvel claimed that the concert hall was “not finished”, as well as making accusations of structural compromises and cut-corners during the construction process which were made against his advice. Nouvel also revealed that the hall had not undergone any acoustic testing, and that pressure to complete the venue “did not allow the architectural and technical requirements to be respected. This despite all the warnings which I have been giving since 2013.”

Nouvel’s striking vision for the 2,400 seat venue, which features a sloping metal roof which patrons can walk across, was selected as part of a design competition in 2007. A string of scheduling, construction and budget issues have dogged the Philharmonie de Paris project for several years. The hall was officially opened by French president Francois Hollande at...