The new 18,000-sm Maison de l’Économie Créative et de la Culture en Aquitaine, or MÉCA, brings together FRAC for contemporary art, ALCA for cinema, literature, and audiovisuals, and OARA for performing arts, into one cultural loop. BIG and FREAKS freearchitects were selected to design the art and culture building back in 2012.
A series of steps and ramps leads from the pavement of the promenade, passed the façade that provides glimpses into the stage towers of OARA and the offices of ALCA, and into the 1,100-sm outdoor urban room at MÉCA’s core. During special occasions, the outdoor urban room (and other outdoor spaces) can be turned into a stage for concerts and theatrical performances, or an extended gallery for sculptures and other art installations. The façade comprises 4,800 prefabricated concrete panels interspersed with windows of various sizes to control the amount of light entering inside. The 1.6-ton concrete slabs are sandblasted to expose their raw qualities and to texture the surface with the local sandstone of Bordeaux.
When visitors enter MÉCA from the ground floor, they will be met with a lobby where they can relax in the spiral pit or dine at Le CREM, a restaurant furnished with red furniture and cork chairs, a reference to the wine the city is known for. Near the restaurant, a giant periscope allows visitors to see the activity in the outdoor urban room and vice-versa.
Also on the ground floor is OARA’s 250-seat theater. It features flexible seating configurations and acoustic systems optimized by an all-black checkerboard panel of concrete, wood, and perforated metal. On the second floor is an 80-seat, red-accented cinema and two production offices and project incubation areas. FRAC occupies the upper floors. These spaces include seven-meter-high exhibition spaces, production studios for artists, storage facilities, and a 90-seat auditorium and café.
Topping off the entire building is an 850-sm public roof terrace. The terrace serves as an extension of the exhibitions spaces and provides space for large-scale art installations and outdoor performances.
Related Stories
| Oct 20, 2014
UK's best new building: Everyman Theatre wins RIBA Stirling Prize 2014
The new Everyman Theatre in Liverpool by Haworth Tompkins has won the coveted RIBA Stirling Prize 2014 for the best building of the year. Now in its 19th year, the RIBA Stirling Prize is the UK’s most prestigious architecture prize.
Sponsored | | Oct 19, 2014
The Exploration Tower in Port Canaveral dazzles visitors
With a mission to provide the experience of a lifetime, the Exploration Tower at Port Canaveral, Fla., is designed to inspire, as visitors learn about the history and nature of the port and beyond. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Oct 19, 2014
White House Visitor Center reopens in Washington, D.C.
Designed by SmithGroupJJR and Gallagher & Associates, renovated center shows public its unique role as office, stage, museum, park, and home.
| Oct 17, 2014
OMA, OLIN design unanimously chosen for D.C. elevated park
In the design, the ends of the bridge are pulled upward to form an "X" shape. It allows ample room for add-ons such as a cafe and performance space, in addition to open space for plazas, lawns, and urban agriculture plots.
| Oct 16, 2014
Perkins+Will white paper examines alternatives to flame retardant building materials
The white paper includes a list of 193 flame retardants, including 29 discovered in building and household products, 50 found in the indoor environment, and 33 in human blood, milk, and tissues.
| Oct 16, 2014
Rocky Mountain Institute breaks ground on net-zero Innovation Center
Encompassing the Rocky Mountain Institute’s 32 years of innovation, the new 15,610 square-foot facility will exhibit the principles of integrative design and energy and resource efficiency.
| Oct 15, 2014
Harvard launches ‘design-centric’ center for green buildings and cities
The impetus behind Harvard's Center for Green Buildings and Cities is what the design school’s dean, Mohsen Mostafavi, describes as a “rapidly urbanizing global economy,” in which cities are building new structures “on a massive scale.”
| Oct 15, 2014
First look: Blueprint revealed for proposed High Line project in Queens
Yet another High Line-esque project has been proposed, this time in Queens. A blueprint has been developed for a 3.5-mile stretch of abandoned railroad tracks, which would connect Rego Park to Ozone Park with a walkway and bike path.
| Oct 14, 2014
Proven 6-step approach to treating historic windows
This course provides step-by-step prescriptive advice to architects, engineers, and contractors on when it makes sense to repair or rehabilitate existing windows, and when they should advise their building owner clients to consider replacement.
| Oct 12, 2014
AIA 2030 commitment: Five years on, are we any closer to net-zero?
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the American Institute of Architects’ effort to have architecture firms voluntarily pledge net-zero energy design for all their buildings by 2030.
