Extension of the Toulouse-Lautrec museum in Albi
I started the to think about the extension of the museum by asking myself basics questions about the program. Like, what is a Museum ? Those questions allowed to define the main characteristics of the building. They also create reflection into some particular aspects of the building.
Analysis of the atmosphere of the square around the cathedral
As we saw in the site analysis, the square is all about contrast. It goes from narrow spaces to wide spaces, from noisy ones to quiet ones, etc.. The existing museum is also interesting. This building talk about interiority. With its huge interior courtyard and its garden. The garden in the existing museum is an untouchable thing surrounded by wall, which cut the visitor from the rest of the city. The museum, as the all city, also talk about the utilization of a local material, which is brick. Combining the characteristics of the square and those of the museum, I decided to make a building that takes the main characteristics of the museum but also contrast with it. So the extension is underground in contrast with the existing one, it expose contemporary instead of classic art, as a modern garden instead of a baroque one, use new ways of building with brick, ...
Situation plan
Concept of the monument as untouchable natural landscape
The project takes place in front of the Sainte Cecile cathedral. To avoid it to be hide by the extension we decided to build it under the ground. Because in the concept we saw the monuments as natural landscape, an untouchable thing that we have to preserve.
Two main questions drove the thought about the building :
- How to build a contemporary architecture in the heart of an historical city ?- How can an underground building have an impact in an upper public space ?
The building is a sequence of different spaces lighted by skylight. The exhibition room is a big space in which some elements invite the visitor to move, and to discover the different pieces exposed. More than just making inviting people to move around those elements also contains pieces of art which are lighted by skylight. They also raise above the ground and affect the public space inviting one more time the people to move around, look through, sit on it,.. Some other holes in the roof bring light to the main room. The round light coming from their pure geometry evolve during the day and the geometry it goes to. A bigger hole in the center of this room is a garden where people can look at some sculpture with a brick and vegetable background. This brick wall closing the garden space use a specific apparel of brick which allow light to go through to make people coming from the entrance curious about what’s going on behind it.
First drawings of the plan and section
First drawing of the entrance
The entrance is necessarily narrow to hide it from people at the surface. From the concept of the building it should disappear from the eye of the square visitor. The only thing that is appearing are the tubes growing from the ground, bringing activity and movement to the square. This narrow stair of the entrance is also defining the space between the outside and the inside. The exterior light to a more specific one.
Drawing of the use of the skylight tube as benches in the public space
The skylight tubes have for vocation to create movement but also bring services to the visitors of the square. Some of them are both skylight tubes and benches. making the square more enjoyable.
Drawing of the skylight tubes
The skylight tube are not only there to bring light into the underground volume. They are also obligating people to move around, to take different paths. They are also opportunities to highlight some pieces of art. The light coming from above putting in great conditions the pieces, into.
Surface floor plan
Underground floor plan
The building is a sequence of spaces linked by tiny transition spaces. The first one is the entrance. In it we can find the bookshop ( separated from the rest by a open glass wall ) on one side. The bookshop as wood floor, to separate it from the rest of the room. In it the visitors will find books, and goodies linked with the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, and the exhibition that are taking place in the extension. They will also find bean bags so that people can spend more time in the bookshop. On the other side of the entrance room they will find some desk where they'll be able to buy their tickets for the visit. A big skylight tube welcome a piece of art allow light to go into the room and link the different part of it.
After a first transition room they will be in a corridor. In this room two glass skylight tube make people move in another way that straightly. This space is also open on a conference room. and a coffee. The presence of a change in the floor cladding ( white concrete in the corridor, and wood floor in the two other rooms ).
Finally after a second transition space they will go into the main exhibition room. Pieces of art will be exposed on the surrounding walls of the room but also into the skylight tubes. The visitors are free to visit the room in any sense. Those elements kinda randomly disposed in the space are also there to make people loose them self, and want simply follow the pieces of art. Many scenography can be possible in this space. Which make adaptable to different kind of arts ( photography, painting, sculpture, drawings, artistic show..).
Sections
The skylight tubes are the connection between the public space at the surface and the inside of the building. They have a double impact
View of the public space
Surface elevation
The public space in front of the cathedral was not used by the locals and not that much by the tourists. It lacked of public furniture which low the interest for the space. By bringing those elements, the goal is to invite people to reinvest this space. All the elements have the same shape so that it becomes more discrete in front of the cathedral, but they have different height to create curiosity. In the concept presentation we talked about this kind of intervention and found a lot of examples of them from famous artists as what you can see below.
References of art intervention in the public space
Detail section of the exhibition room
Detail of a skylight tube and the glass wall of the coffee shop
Detail of the entrance
Axonometry showing the relation between the surface and the building
Detail of the garden brick wall
The materiality is a main subject in the heart of an historic city like Albi. The brick is everywhere and is part of the identity of the city. The goal of this wall is to call the curiosity of the visitors. Coming for the entrance of the main exhibition room, they go along the first wall seeing the light coming through the wall of the garden and making them want to move to go on the other side of it and discover the garden. This assembly is also a way to rethink the utilization of the brick. With the new technologies we have nowadays, we can introduce into the city new ways of building with bricks. It's a way to integrate the building into the context of the city and create cultural richness.
View on the garden
The garden, is a central place of the exhibition. Like the skylight tubes the garden is a opportunity to highlight the pieces of art. In this also it's also an occasion to bring some vegetable material in this historic heart of the city. This garden is also a way to retake characteristic from the original museum. It has a baroque garden corresponding to the age of the building. It's an untouchable thing seen by the visitors from above or around. This one use the same ideas but using different kind of artistic pieces, way to assembly materials,... corresponding to the contemporary era we live in.
View of the exhibition room
The skylight coming from the outside allow the internal space to evolve during the day. The circle light are moving around the rooms. Those light form are also changing when they meet the geometry of the building. They create different feeling depending on the time of the day, the season of the year, the weather,.. This is also into the idea of creating visitors movement.
View of one of the transition space
The transitions spaces are separating the main programs of the extension. They are tiny areas that try with a light work, but also the use of different materiality to create breaks in the building
The visitors will go along the Corten steal wall to the box. In the box they will see a hole in the wall in which they'll be able to take their headphone. This cube is also the part where the employees will be able to close the pavilion during the night. Then they will go into the main circular room. In this room it will be very interesting to see how people will move. As they don't listen to the same music, they don't have the same feeling, the same mood. Some will go in all the ways dancing everywhere as some other will go slowly around, or not moving depending on the kind of music they are listening to.
