Concept

© CA2M / Shigeru Ban Architects Europe & Jean de Gastines

The building, designed by architects Shigeru Ban and Jean de Gastines, will include public areas in addition to the many exhibition areas, a creative studio for projections and performances, an auditorium, a bookshop-boutique, and a restaurant-cafeteria.

The Forum. © CA2M / Shigeru Ban Architects Europe & Jean de Gastines / Artefactory. Please click to enlarge!

The visitor enters the building by going under the covering and descending a grand staircase which leads to the lower forum, where the ticket counter is located. The great hall and upper forum are also directly accessible from the outside at street level. These areas constitute a spatial continuum enclosed by sliding doors and removable favades, which permit the Centre to be opened to the outside from time to time.

The creation studio, distinguished by its cylindrical form, is accessible from the lower forum. The staircases and elevator shafts, which are grouped together and easily recognisable by their hexagonal shape, give access to all the exhibition galleries, which are located in the tubular areas. The exhibition rooms, distributed among these three galleries, are open platforms; they are lit by the natural light coming from the far ends of the galleries and concealable overhead apertures.

The restaurant, located on the uppermost level, has a terrace on the roof of the last gallery. Accessible solely through the forum, it has no independent entrance.