*보르도 컬쳐센터 [ BIG ] Meca to Culture in Bordeaux, France

가론강을 마주보는 리버프론트에 새롭게 제안되는 컬쳐센터는

보르도지역의 3개 컬쳐기관을 하나의 볼륨으로 구성합니다.

재미있는 것은 서로다른 3개의 기관을 하나로 묶는 건축적행위입니다.

로컬지역의 자생적인 문화와 경제를 하나로 묶는 이번 프로젝트는

기존 도시가 가지고 있는 도시문맥을 따라서 이것을 잇고 통합합니다.

이렇게 연결된 도시공간은 보르도컬쳐센터로 통하는 동선- 산책로, 보행자로-

으로 연결되며 루프 아래에 펼쳐진 커다란 중정공간으로, 두개의

커다란 타워를 연결하는 스카이브릿지로 유입됩니다.

특히 건축적 볼륨이 가져다주는 아이텐티는 컬쳐센터의 고유한 캐릭터를

창출하는 것을 넘어서 보르도지역의 경제와 문화를 통합하는 게이트의

역활로써 랜드마크화 됩니다. 이렇게 유입된 각종 문화활동은 내외부공간 속에서

연극, 공연, 전시, 페스티발, 이벤트 등으로 구현됩니다.

reviewed by SJ

Team BIG + FREAKS freearchitects, dUCKS scéno, Khephren Ingénierie, VPEAS, ALTO Ingénierie, Vincent Hedont, PBNL, Mryk & Moriceau, Ph.A wins the competition to design a new 12 000 m2 cultural center on the riverfront of Bordeaux, merging three cultural institutions into one single building.

The new Maison de l’Économie Créative et de la Culture en Aquitaine, MÉCA, located on the historical riverfront of Bordeaux will house three regional visual and performing arts agencies FRAC, the ECLA and the OARA in one single institution. The Regional Council of Bordeaux selected the winning team among proposals from SANAA, the Toulouse-based firm W-Architectures and Bordeaux-based FLINT.

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BIG’s proposal arranges the new center for contemporary art, the performing arts institution and the center for literature and movies around a public space open towards the city of Bordeaux and the Garonne River. The building is conceived as a single loop of public space and cultural institutions as the pavement of the promenade rises to form the roof of the main lobbies, ascends vertically along the stage tower of OARA, bridges across the promenade with the sky lit galleries of the FRAC and returns vertically to the ground at the archives of the ECLA in order to reunite with the waterfront promenade.

“When a region or a city invests millions in a major new cultural institution – it often ends up benefiting only the informed few that already have an interest in the arts. Not only does the MÉCA spill its activities into the public realm and the urban room, but the public is also invited to walk around, through, above and below the new cultural gateway. By inviting the art into the city and the city into the arts, the MÉCA will provide opportunities for new hybrids of cultural and social life beyond the specific definitions of its constituent parts.” Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner, BIG.

The urban room allows everyday life of Bordeaux to flow through its generous frame along the promenade, injecting the art into the city and the city life into the building. The multiple ramps and stairs of the building create an institution that is publicly accessible and welcoming on the inside as well as the outside. The urban room and the informal seating of the stairs will make the MÉCA a lively place and a natural extension of the life along the Quai de Paludate street and the new promenade. During festivals or other special occasions in the city, the outside of the MÉCA can be transformed into a stage for outdoor concerts, theatrical spectacles or art installations.

“The urban room is at once a frame for the artwork, a stage for the performances, a screening room for the media collections and most perhaps most importantly an open room for the urban life of Bordeaux to invade and engage with the arts.”, Andreas Klok Pedersen, Partner-in-Charge, BIG.

Tailored to accommodate the proportions of the performance spaces, the backstage requirements, the archives and the art galleries, the building is tailored to the needs and desires of its individual tenants while fused to form a single urban frame. The building and promenade is clad in the limestone which constitutes the majority of Bordeaux’s architecture. As if carved from the same material as the city itself – the stone is promenade and façade, stair and terrace, roof and ceiling all together.

“The three regional entities composing the program are idiomatic to the French public way of supporting and promoting culture all over the territory. Working on the MÉCA building in Bordeaux is a great occasion to cross views and balance between international references and local issues.” Guillaume Aubry, Cyril Gauthier & Yves Pasquet, Founding Partners, FREAKS freearchitects.

from  evolo