Architects: Kengo Kuma & Associates
Location: Marseille, France
Architect In Charge Of Construction Site: Nicolas Moreau, Jean-Daniel Boyé, Frank Anderle, Loïc Lequertier, Pascal Ferrera
Architecture Team: Kengo Kuma, Yuki Ikeguchi, Nicolas Moreau, Louise Lemoine, Félicien Duval, Shinku Noda, Jun Shibata
Area: 5,757 sqm
Year: 2013
Photographs: Nicolas Waltefaugle, Erieta Attali
Project Info
Local Architect: Toury et Vallet
Structure Engineer: CEBAT ingénierie
Mechanical Engineer: ETB Antonelli
Facade Engineer: ARCORA
Introduction
The project of the contemporary art center (FRAC) for the region Provence Alpes Cotes d’Azur (PACA) is the 3D version of the “museum without walls” invented by André Malraux, famous French writer and politician. It is a museum without a museum, a living and moving place, where the art pieces are in a constant movement and join the logic of diffusion and interaction with the visitors.
Details
KKAA thought the FRAC as a signal in the city, which allows a better visibility to contemporary art. The building stands up as a landmark which identity is clearly asserted. It is composed with two recognizable parts:
– The main body along the street Vincent Leblanc contains the exhibition spaces and documentation center
– A small tower with auditorium and children’s workshop, offers an upper terrace on the main boulevard.
These two clearly identified entities are connected between them by a set of footbridges and are unified by the envelope made by an glass skin, composed with panels with changing opacity. The building explores the theme of the windows and openings on different scales. KKAA wishes to create a particular space of creation and life, which action and effect is bounded to the entire city, as well as the surrounding district and neighborhood (cafe-terrace).