The Luma Foundation Building at the Parc des Ateliers

Project Details

Project Description

FROM THE ARCHITECTS:

SCI Ateliers d’Arles Immobilier, together with the Region Provence- Alpes-Côtes d’Azur and the city of Arles (in dialogue with Actes Sud Publishing, Les Rencontres d’Arles, and the National School of Photography), and with an international panel of advisors that represent the projects core group (Hans Ulrich Obrist, Beatrix Ruf, Tom Eccles, Liam Gillick, Philippe Pareno and Peter Fischli) and their expert guests, has envisioned a masterplan for the Parc des Ateliers site in close collaboration with Frank O. Gehry and Gehry Partners, LLP.

Gehry Partners, LLP, based in Los Angeles, California, has designed the masterplan for 11 hectares of former SNCF railway factories, and the architectural designs for the Parc des Ateliers buildings. In order to maintain the project’s visual coherence, Gehry Partners will exercise a design review role over the other projects submitted for the site.

1. PARC DES ATELIERS CULTURAL CENTER MASTERPLAN NARRATIVE
The Parc des Ateliers in Arles, France, will be a site for the production of art and ideas developed by American architect Frank Gehry and Gehry Partners, LLP, for SCI Ateliers d’Arles Immobilier. As a multipurpose cultural park, the project will create a campus and public gardens in the city center of Arles. It will provide the infrastructure for activities varying from exhibitions and festivals, to facilities for educational programs and conferences, as well as artist residencies. This privately funded project combines refurbished industrial heritage buildings and new construction.

The site will be linked to the city not only through its programming, but also by public parks designed by Belgian landscape architect Bas Smets. The site is envisioned as an archipelago of connected project spaces and worksites for the production of art and exhibitions, with the further aim of encouraging and facilitating collaborative research as well as informal encounters and exchange.

Offering prime conditions for artists and scholars to research and experiment, produce and exhibit work, this development will include new forms of collecting and archiving. The Parc des Ateliers will function as an incubator for the arts and as a field station for international art institutions.

The project includes: one new building and selected refurbished buildings of the existing SNCF buildings within the Parc des Ateliers that will serve as exhibition spaces, workshops, offices for the publisher Acte-Sud, artist in residence facilities, and a parking structure.

An urban archipelago, Parc des Ateliers buildings are densely organized in relation to one another- the project reflects the Roman planning influences that are the foundation of Arles. The masterplan extends the urban fabric of Avenue Victor Hugo from the city center to the Parc des Ateliers site.

The central organizing element of the project is a circular drum in glass; its shape relates to the Roman Arena in Arles. The building grows out from the center of the drum. The other buildings are positioned around it in the manner of a Roman city. The placement of the new building is oriented towards the historic center of Arles.

The new building includes exhibition spaces, seminar rooms, a library, communal spaces, artist studios and workshop, a restaurant, a cafe, a bookstore, public lobbies, and offices.

The masterplan proposes a distribution of buildings and their respective functions in such a way as to promote interaction between the multiple disciplines represented on the site- cultivating the transmission of information, creativity and innovation, and professional and social dialog and exchanges.

The programming and architecture of Parc des Ateliers allow for improvisation, providing a variety of opportunities for interaction and exchange; it was conceived as a Laboratory for projects and Ideas, setting the stage for new ways of working together. Designed as a permanent think-tank, Parc des Ateliers will at times host international cross-disciplinary encounters in the form of conferences and ongoing discussion groups.

Parking for the Parc des Ateliers will be provided onsite and within a 3 story parking structure that forms the plinth from which the new building rises.

The masterplan explores advanced sustainable approaches to site planning and design. Pedestrian movement and the interaction between the Parc des Ateliers and the City of Arles, will be promoted by lush landscaping throughout the site. The landscape design proposal of Bureau Bas Smets incorporates the use of local and regional flora and fauna to create micro-climate zones that represent the diversity of natural environments found in the region; in addition, the gardens will mitigate the impact of the Mistral. They will enhance the experience of the site and also provide means for reducing the average temperatures on site during the summer months.

The Parc des Ateliers Masterplan incorporates four primary public outdoor spaces or zones. Each space is unique in atmosphere and activity. The primary spaces are: the Plinth, the Forest, the Plaza, and the Garden.

More than an architectural and urban regeneration project, the Parc des Ateliers aims to become a vibrant center for the city, creating in its first year of operation job opportunities for the local population. Building upon the City of Arles’ status as a cultural destination, the international programming of the Foundation and its surrounding activities will benefit Arles’ position as a global city.

2. THE NEW BUILDING
The new building is located at the northern edge of the Parc des Ateliers. Its siting is based on a carefully considered relationship with Avenue Victor Hugo, the city of Arles, and the existing buildings of the Parc. The placement of the tower is sensitive to the adjacent site of Les Alyscamps, and enables views towards Chapelle St. Honnorat from Avenue Victor Hugo and other points on the site.

The new building is organized in three parts: the plinth, the drum , and the tower. The plinth, takes up the level difference between the Parc des ateliers and Avenue Victor Hugo; it forms the foundation for the building. The western part of the plinth contains a car park of 222 places on 3 levels accessed from the avenue. The circular drum forms the base of the building; the tower emerges from the drum. At 16 meters, the drum relates to the height of the existing buildings on the avenue, providing the necessary continuity with the scale of these buildings. The tower is setback from the perimeter of the drum and rises to 55.5 meters. The tower is composed of four vertical elements that help to breakdown the scale of the volume. The space between the vertical elements is articulated as vertical canyons of glass, that offer views out towards the surrounding environments from within the building.

The drum- the cylindrical glass base of the new building, makes reference to the Roman Arena in Arles. As the Parc des Atelier site is outside of the city center and walls, it was important to establish a strong visual and historical reference to the historic core of Arles. The Roman planning of Arles consisted primarily of two architectural scales: the monumental civic buildings, and the domestic scale of housing. The scale and geometric simplicity of the civic buildings established a reference point around which all subsequent buildings were organized. The geometry of the drum provides the clarity around which the other building elements are organized, serving as an anchor and center for the entire Parc des Ateliers. At the level of the street, the drum becomes the focal point of the new building, providing a welcoming and open space of arrival. The surface of the drum consists of operable panels that can open up the space of the interior to the street and local climate when desirable. The drum’s capacity to become porous reinforces the open gesture to the city that the building represents.

At Parc des Ateliers, the relationship between tower and factory buildings has historical precedence. The presence of industrial production was once visible across the skyline of Arles in the form of industrial chimney stacks. These towers figured prominently in depictions of the Arles landscape in period photographs and paintings- most notably in the landscape paintings of Van Gogh. Although now absent from the site, a tower form once occupied the landscape of the Parc des Ateliers site. Situated amongst the factory buildings, the tower significantly contributed to the industrial character of the site; at approximately 60 meters tall, it was one of the tallest stacks in Arles.

The skyline of Arles is populated with towers built from the time of the middle ages up to the present. The vertical figure of the tower has served as a means of establishing key monuments- both religious and political, within the dense fabric of the city. The addition of the new building to the numerous towers in Arles will help to establish the Parc des Ateliers as a significant site amongst the other landmarks of the city.

The image of the new building takes its inspiration from the limestone peaks of Les Alpilles- the mountain range that rises from the Rhone Valley, northeast of Arles. Upon the horizon of the region, the geological formations of Les Alpilles are the strongest natural feature- the jutting peaks are in stark contrast to the plain of the valley from which they emerge. The impressive forms and textures of the jagged limestone cliffs helped to establish a formal and contextual ambition for the new building.

Les Alpilles have played a significant role in the cultural memory of the region and abroad. Figured prominently in Van Gogh’s paintings from the time that he spent in Arles, the landscape of Les Alpilles are internationally recognized. In these paintings, Van Gogh depicted the mountains with visible, segmented strokes as opposed to smooth surfaces, emphasizing the dynamism and texture of the terrain. The manner in which Van Gogh rendered Les Alpilles influenced the development of the exterior cladding of the new building. Rather than developing a surface composed of continuous elements, the design of the tower sought to capture the movement of discrete elements across a surface. This manner of breaking down a surface to visible modules became an important theme in the surface development of the tower, as it reinforced the idea of a “painterly building.” The building changes in appearance as one moves around the building, as each of the panels reflects the light differently. Over the course of the day, the building will take on the color and hues of the surrounding context and sky, adding to the impression of movement and life across the facades.

Further reflection on the local architecture of Arles reinforced this concept. Best exemplified in the masonry construction of the Roman and Romanesque architecture in Arles, such as the limestone panels of the Arena, the Thermes of Constantine, and the stone roof panels of the Cloitre de Saint- Trophime. The texture and weight of these stone buildings served as both reference and point of departure for the design of the new building. The idea of a surface composed of distinct panels moved the design closer to the rough texture of the Les Alpilles.

The selection of stainless steel for the panels reinforces the industrial context into which the new building is situated, coupling the geological qualities of Les Alpilles with the historic factory buildings of Parc des Ateliers. These qualities establish the necessary relationship between the building, the city of Arles, and the region.

The new building is a single building organized in three parts: the plinth, the drum, and the tower. The “plinth” houses the large Exhibition Space, Archive and consultation space, and general back of house service spaces, facilities, and plant rooms, all on two levels. The three levels of the “drum” contain public programming such as: ticketing, orientation, bookstore, café, exhibition spaces, seminar rooms, and a communal space. The seven levels of the “tower” contain the following programming: library, artist studios, offices, restaurant and kitchen, roof top terrace, and mechanical spaces.

Plinth:
The Plinth contains two main levels connecting the Parc des Ateliers level (–7.8 m) to the Avenue Victor Hugo ( +0.00m).

Level -2 (-7.8m) : Parc de Ateliers level, contains the general services, delivery bays and staff facilities as well as the technical plant areas, archive and consultation rooms and the large exhibition space and Parc de Atelier level lobby.

Level – 1 (-4.5m) : Contains mostly plant and service spaces, as well as the upper portion of the double height volumes of the exhibition spaces.

Drum:
The program at the ground floor level, situated off the boulevard Victor Hugo (+0.00m = 17.3 NGF), is within a glazed atrium space of 16 meters in height with 3 levels of program. It allows public access to all parts of the building, as well as access to the Parc des Ateliers.

Level 0: (Ground Floor): Lobby, visitors center and orientation, ticketing/ coat check, children’s center, café, exhibition spaces, security offices.

Level 1: Three seminar rooms with a 40-50 person capacity, 1 larger 130 seat lecture facility, and 2 outdoor terraces.

Level 2: One seminar room, Artists’ Communal Area, 2 indoor terraces, and 1 outdoor terrace

Tower:
From this glazed rotunda rises the new building to 55.5 m in height from the boulevard level. The building is an ‘IGH’ and therefore complies to the respective security norms and regulations.

Level 3: Library and 1 outdoor terrace.

Level 4: 3 Artist working studios, a common area, and 1 outdoor terrace.

Level 5: Administrative and management office spaces, and 2 outdoor terraces.

Level 6: Mechanical Plant rooms and Office Mezzanine.

Level 7: Kitchen and Staff amenities.

Level 8: Restaurant with outdoor terrace.

Level 9: Panoramic roof terrace with Bar amenities.

Level 10: Mechanical roof.