Photos: Stéphane Chalmeau.
The architect of this new music venue for Nîmes apparently sees the building as a giant one eyed monster erupting from the ground. Charged with telluric energy, its skin is taught and cracking, poised to take over the world! And then there is the analogy of the bullfighter: the thick walls of the big hall evoke the protection of the Picador’s horse, coloured seats equate to the crowed, yellow and purple of the interior spaces, the muleta… etc. etc…!
And so we have a dynamic and curiously shaped building, sitting on the one hand as a monument to the extension of modern morality to animals, and on the other as nostalgic container for the expressions of youthful passion and creativity. Read more
Photos: Stéphane Chalmeau.
Andy Warhol famously called his New York City studio “The Factory”. Later the British pop music producers Stock Aitken and Waterman called their operation the “Hit Factory” as it churned-out hit after hit of 1980s pop music.
This “Factory” designed by Tetrarc seeks to combine workspace for both image and music making but takes its inspiration not from the repetitive nature of industrial production but from its architecture. Read more
Photos: Geraldine Bruneel.
This campus-style training centre for the environmental group Véolia has recently opened in Lyon, France. The complex is designed by Arte Charpentier Architectes around a garden that it conceives as an Agora. The intention is to create a convivial atmosphere for all who use the building to enjoy. Read more
Photos: Guillaume Clement / Atelier Dreyssé.
In a dense residential district of Drancy in north east Paris there was a need for a sports hall, dance studio and community hall with ancillary facilities for school and community use. The facilities would be shared by several local schools but the sports hall had to be optimised for regional basketball competitions.
75 % of the building sits on the site boundary which is overlooked by residential gardens. This meant that there was limited opportunity for façade openings and yet, as much daylight as possible was required to enter the spaces. The result, designed by Atelier d’Architecture Alexandre Dreyssé, was an inward-looking building that is also something of an essay in the use of wood. Read more
Jean Prouvé’s vision was to see how his material of choice, steel, could be used to produce cheaper, better, more elegant solutions to architectural and product design questions. Willing to follow his vision down whatever path it led him, without encumbrance from established aesthetic norms, Prouvé produced some truly innovative and original work.
Photos: Sériès et Sériès Agency.
Sériès et Sériès, were the architects called upon to design an extension for an existing office building designed by Prouvé. As they say in the rock music world… not an easy gig to play. Read more
