[ gallery ]

Shigeru Ban and the Beaubourg

This structure was erected to accommodate the members of the team entrusted with development of the design for the Centre Pompidou at Metz (CPM), in France. It will be occupied by the architects and designers for the entire duration of preparatory work on the new museum, and serve also to house items for presentation to members of the public, who can therefore keep abreast of how the CPM project is evolving.

The studio appears as a tubular enclosure 34.5 m long and 4.4 m wide, and is covered along its entire length by a semicircular vault covered by a waterproof membrane and panels fitted over a rib cage fabricated from cylindrical members.
The assembled vault and base section are covered by an outer membrane of PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene), which guarantees watertightness.
The two flank frontages and the ends are timber framed with wooden infill panels. The temporary structure is designed to enclose a single continuous space in which the various functional areas are demarcated using room dividers in the form of free-standing bookcases. The space is divided into a succession of areas: reception, conference room, work area, relaxation area and model gallery, and is visible in its entirety from the Pompidou Centre.

As technical sponsor for the illumination of this interesting temporary building, iGuzzini illuminazione also supplied the fixtures.