Site Verrier de Meisenthal
Site Verrier de Meisenthal
SO-IL + FREAKS Architecture
ARCHITECTS
Freaks Architecture, So-il
MUSEOGRAPHY
Designers Unit
PLANNING MANAGEMENT
C2bi
SCENOGRAPHY
Ducks
ACOUSTICS
Peutz
PROJECT MANAGER
Lfa
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Mhi
COST ESTIMATOR
Mdetc
FREAKS TEAM
Yves Pasquet, Cyril Gauthier, Guillaume Aubry, Bertrand Courtot, Axel Simon
SO IL TEAM
Florian Idenburg, Jing Liu, Ilias Papageorgiou, Lucie Rebeyrol, Ian Ollivier,
Seunghyun Kang, Pietro Pagliaro, Danny Duong, Antoine Vacheron
PHOTOGRAPHS
Iwan Baan
AREA
6500 M²
YEAR
2021
LOCATION
Meisenthal, France
CATEGORY
Cultural Center
Text description provided by architect.
Hidden in the bucolic landscape of Northern Vosges Natural Park, Site Verrier de Meisenthal is a publicly funded active cultural center in a historic glass factory dating back to the 18th century.
Three independent yet interrelated institutions: the glass museum (Musée du Verre et du cristal) – a living memory tracing the history of glass at the site.
The CIAV (Centre International d’Art Verrier) – an international glass art center where traditional craftsmanship meets contemporary practices; and the Cadhame (Halle verrière) – a multidisciplinary cultural space hosting art installations, happenings and concerts are sited at varying floor levels.
Our intervention unifies them to define a contemporary institutional identity in dialogue with an industrial heritage.
An undulating poured-in-place concrete surface alludes to glass production as it unites the buildings. The surface functions as roof, ceiling, and wall, connecting the buildings’ ground floors to frame a public plaza.
New functions are sensitively introduced under and over this surface, including offices, workshop areas, a cafe and restaurant.
Existing building functions are reimaged and extended: the factory hall is given a new entrance on a previously unused basement floor and a 500-seat black box theater that can be reconfigured as a theater with standing room for 700 or opened into a concert hall for 3,000.
The new public space heightens civic awareness of the historical site and also introduces a highly flexible venue for outdoor theater, concerts, and seasonal festivities.
