STATUS
COMPLETED
CLIENT
Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine
TYPOLOGY
Culture, Interiors
SIZE M2/FT2
12,675 / 136,434
SHARE
MÉCA (Maison de l’Économie Créative et de la Culture en Aquitaine) creates a frame for the celebration of contemporary art, film and performances, giving Bordeaux the gift of art-filled public space right on the city’s waterfront.
Centrally located between the Garonne river and Saint-Jean train station, the 18,000 m2 MÉCA, brings together three regional art institutions – FRAC for contemporary art, ALCA for cinema, literature and audiovisuals, and OARA for performing arts – cementing the UNESCO-listed city as the epicenter for culture.
OPTIMAL POSITION
— The theaters of OARA are on the ground close to the lobby and loading. ECLA contains collections, offices and research, organized like an urban building on multiple floors. FRAC has flexible exhibition spaces with open plans and skylights.
LOOP GATE
— BIG organized the programs like a gate between the city and the water. The large galleries of FRAC span the two buildings, one for ECLA, and one for OARA. The lobby connects the two pillars and opens towards the street and the river.
Program Volume
View Frame
Promenade Connection
Urban Living Room
Conceived as a single loop of cultural institutions and public space by extruding the pavement of the promenade to become the ramp that leads into the urban living room, the façade offers glimpses into the stage towers of OARA, the offices of ALCA, and the rooftop enclosing the sky-lit galleries of FRAC.
The façade is composed almost entirely of 4,800 prefabricated concrete panels interspersed with windows of various sizes to control the amount of light entering inside and to create a sense of transparency. The concrete slabs, which weigh up to 1.6 tons, are sandblasted to expose its raw qualities and to texture the surface with the local sandstone of Bordeaux. Yellow granules for brightness and warmth radiate the building in the sun and help integrate MÉCA as a familiar yet new vernacular sight to the city.
"The urban room is at once a frame for the artwork, a stage for the performances, a screening room for the media collections and perhaps most importantly, an open room for the urban life of Bordeaux to invade and engage with the arts. Giant windows overlooking the urban room offer views to the dance studio of OARA and on the opposite end, an inclined mirror reflects the lobby below. The visitors are almost participating in an installation, just by being there. In addition, large bleachers on either side of the building invite people to hang out and enjoy amazing views of the River Garonne and the city."
A series of steps and ramps lead the public directly into the 1,100 m2 outdoor urban room at the core of MÉCA, creating a porous institution for visitors to roam freely between the Quai de Paludate street to the river promenade. A 7 m high MÉCA sign illuminates the space with white LED lights, like a modern chandelier at the scale of the urban room.
A permanent bronze sculpture depicting a half-head of Hermes by French artist Benoît Maire intersects with the entrance on the riverside, inviting visitors to reflect on the contemporary culture of the region.
Upon entering MÉCA from the ground floor, visitors arrive at the lobby where they can relax in the spiral pit or dine at the restaurant Le CREM, furnished with red furniture and cork chairs designed by BIG in reference to the city known for wine. A giant periscope by the elevators allows visitors to see the activity in the outdoor urban room and vise-versa.
On the same ground floor, those with tickets can enjoy performances in OARA’s 250-seat theatre featuring flexible seating configurations and acoustic systems optimized by an all-black checkerboard panel of concrete, wood and perforated metal. Upstairs, film-goers can view screenings at ALCA’s red-accented 80-seat cinema or visit the two production offices and project incubation area. FRAC occupies the upper floors with 7 m high exhibition spaces, production studios for artists, storage facilities, 90-seat auditorium and café.
"The multiplicity of the flows and functions of MÉCA, which welcomes both the actors of the regional creative ecosystem on the one hand and activities that enjoy the public on the other hand, makes the building a dynamic tool to stimulate creation. BIG perfectly understood the complexity of grouping three cultural institutions, the circulation between professionals and the general public, and the insertion of the building within Bordeaux."
During special occasions, MÉCA’s outdoor spaces can be transformed into a stage for concerts and theatrical spectacles or an extended gallery for sculptures and other art installations.
The 850 m2 public roof terrace serves as a flexible extension to the exhibition spaces, allowing future large-scale art installations and performances to be placed outdoors with views of the city and the Basilica of St. Michael.
"Benoît’s Hermes head is placed right where the big public space cuts through the building, almost as if a giant block has been pushed through and half the head has been removed along with half of the building. The piece of the head that is missing is also the piece of the building that is missing. The missing pieces are maybe the most interesting parts for the building because this is where all the public events and activities can happen, and for the sculpture because that's the part that is left open for people's interpretation."
Bjarke Ingels Finn Nørkjær David Zahle Jakob Lange Andreas Klok Pedersen Jakob Sand Annette Jensen Alexander Codda Alicia Marie Sarah Borchardt Aya Fibert Bartosz Kobylakiewicz Bernhard Touzet Espen Vik Gabrielle Nadeau Greta Tafel Hyojin Lee Ivan Genov Jan Magasanik Katarzyna Swiderska Kekoa Charlot Laurent De Carniere Lorenzo Boddi Marie Lancon Melissa Andres Ola El Hariri Pascale Julien Raphael Ciriani Santiago Palacio Villa Sebastian Liszka Seunghan Yeum Snorre Nash Tore Banke Yehezkiel Wiliardy Manik Zoltan Kalászi Åsmund Skeie Paul-Antoine Lucas Brigitta Gulyás David Tao Edouard Champelle Greta Krenciute Jeffrey Mark Mikolajewski Karol Bogdan Borkowski Maria Teresa Fernandez Rojo Michael Schønemann Jensen Nicolas Millot Ole Dau Mortensen Se Hyeon Kim Thiago De Almeida Thomas Jakobsen Randbøll Yang Du
AWARDS
ULI Europe Awards for Excellence, 2022
ICONIC Awards, Innovative Architecture, Cultural Award, 2020
German Design Council Innovative Architecture, Best Cultural Project Award, 2020
COLLABORATORS
Freaks
Lafourcade-Rouquette Architectes
ALTO Ingénierie
Khephren Ingénierie
Hedont
dUCKS Scéno
Dr. Lüchinger+Meyer Bauingenieure
VPEAS
Ph.A Lumière
ABM Studio
Mryk & Moriceau
BIG Ideas
