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  COME VEDERE L'ARCHITETTURA CONTEMPORANEA HOW TO SEE CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE
COME VEDERE L'ARCHITETTURA CONTEMPORANEA HOW TO SEE CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE
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BUILDING
 
 
MÉCA - Maison de l’Économie Créative et de la Culture en Aquitaine
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DESIGNER
 
 
BIG
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DESCRIPTION
 
BIG Biarke Ingels MECA BordeauxThe 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.

BIG Biarke Ingels MECA BordeauxBIG’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.

BIG Biarke Ingels MECA BordeauxThe 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.

BIG Biarke Ingels MECA Bordeaux“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.
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LOCATION
 
Continent
Europe
Nation
France [France]
Region
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
District
Gironde
Arrondissement
Bordeaux
Town
Bordeaux
Neighborhoods
Canton de Bordeaux-5
Address
Quai de Paludate
 
 
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MAP
 
 
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TYPOLOGY
 
Main
ARCHITECTURE
Buildings for cultural activities
Cultural centres and community centres
Additional
ARCHITECTURE
Buildings for cultural activities
Art galleries and exhibition areas
Libraries and media libraries
Archives
Buildings for recreational activities
Cinemas
Arenas and structures for concerts and shows
Urban equipment and structures for public areas
Pedestrian areas, promenades

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS
Landscape architecture
Waterfront
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CHRONOLOGY
 
Project
2012     project winner of competition
Realisation
2016 - 2018
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EXHIBITIONS
 
 
Nouvelles architectures. Fonds régionaux d'art contemporain, Bordeaux, France, Arc en rêve centre d’architecture, 17 september / 17 november 2013
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CLIENT
 
 
Conseil régional d’Aquitaine
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AMOUNT
 
 
€ 52,000,000
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DIMENSIONAL
DATA
 
Height
m. 37
Surface
sq.m. 12,350
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STAFF
 
Associate designers
FREAKS freearchitects
Principal-in-charge
Bjarke Ingels, Andreas Klok Pedersen
Project leader
Gabrielle Nadeau
Project architect
Jan Magasanik
Design team
Édouard Champelle, Lorenzo Boddi, Yang Du, Karol Borkowski
Consultant
dUCKS scéno
Khephren Ingénierie
VPEAS
ALTO Ingénierie
Vincent Hedont
PBNL
Mryk & Moriceau
Ph.A
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CREDITS
 
 
Text and images © BIG Bjarke Ingels Group
Courtesy of BIG Bjarke Ingels Group

BIG Biarke Ingels MECA Bordeaux



If you haven't already clicked on the photo strip at the top of the page, for the gallery of photos [10 images] and drawings [42 images], enter here
 
 
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