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 10, 2014
A new memorial by Zaha Hadid in Cambodia departs from the expected
The project sees a departure from Hadid’s well-known use of concrete, fiberglass, and resin. Instead, the primary material will be timber, curved and symmetrical like the Angkor Wat and other Cambodian landmarks.
| Oct 8, 2014
First look: Woods Bagot unveils plans for new Christchurch Convention Center
The locally-inspired building is meant to serve as a symbol of the city's recovery from the earthquake of 2011.
| Oct 6, 2014
Frank Gehry's $100 million Eisenhower Memorial gets preliminary approval
After a rejection earlier in the year, Frank Gehry has gotten some good news: his revised design for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial has received approval from the National Capital Planning Commission.
| Oct 2, 2014
Budget busters: Report details 24 of the world's most obscenely over-budget construction projects
Montreal's Olympic Stadium and the Sydney Opera House are among the landmark projects to bust their budgets, according to a new interactive graph by Podio.
| Oct 1, 2014
10 iconic modern buildings first to receive 'Keeping it Modern' conservation grants from the Getty Foundation
Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House and Jørn Utzon’s Sydney Opera House are among the buildings to receive grants.
| Sep 29, 2014
Snøhetta releases final plan for terraced central library in Calgary
The competition-winning New Central Library is now in the final design stages, after two years of community engagement on the part of design firms Snøhetta and DIALOG.
| Sep 25, 2014
Jean Nouvel unveils plans for National Art Museum of China
Of the design, Nouvel describes it as inspired by the simplicity of “a single brush stroke.”
| Sep 24, 2014
Architecture billings see continued strength, led by institutional sector
On the heels of recording its strongest pace of growth since 2007, there continues to be an increasing level of demand for design services signaled in the latest Architecture Billings Index.
| Sep 24, 2014
Frank Gehry's first building in Latin America will host grand opening on Oct. 2
Gehry's design for the Biomuseo, or Museum of Biodiversity, draws inspiration from the site's natural and cultural surroundings, including local Panamaian tin roofs.
| Sep 23, 2014
Third phase of New York’s High Line redevelopment opens
The $35 million Phase 3, known as High Line at the Rail Yards, broke ground September 20, 2012, and officially opened to the public on September 21.
