Studio II - Museum in LaCoste, France
Professor Christine Wacta
Winter 2010
*Collected for National Architectural Accrediting Board Review
- Building Type- Museum
- Size/Scale- 15,000-25,000sf on site.
- Program- Museum/research center, residences, store, Gym, parking.
- Description- Students in Savannah, GA were asked to transform the quarry in Lacoste, France into an archeological Museum and research complex, through processes of erasure and addition. The site which is the Quarry is a place where something has been erased; a spot or mark left from history... With amazing views and textures… A place that tells a story to whoever venture to it…… One of the best spot in Lacoste. The studio is about more than the program [Archeological Museum with all supporting program]. It is about land, wind, cliff edge and the search for expressing materially and tectonically the relationships between these principle conditions. That is, where the land is primarily about grounding (foundation), cliff's edge holds secret view and one’s eye can depict a slow movement and freedom. Movement is activated by wind, allowing for negotiating the relationship between cliff and land.
Concept
An Interactive Museum
The human body is very unique and fascinating. Julhani Pallasmaa’s book, “The Eyes of the Skin,” states that “sensory experience is unstable and alien to natural perception, which we achieve with our whole body all at once, and which opens on a world of interacting senses.” Interacting these senses with the artifacts and installations in the museum will create a revolutionary experience for the guests and researchers at the museum. An interactive museum will allow guests to be a part of the artifacts and the objects in and around the museum. Even though this will be an interactive museum, there will be some artifacts that will be protected from guests touching them.
The entrance of the museum will frame the quarry in order to bring guests into the quarry deeper. The main entrance will be situated on top of the south corner of the quarry hidden from the road in order to have the guest interact and discover the museums full potential. The museum will also have a series of ramps, elevators, and stairs that will bring guests to the bottom of the quarry in order to interact with the graffiti on the quarry walls. Having a museum entrance in the quarry will give guests an entrance to the museum without having to climb the quarry walls. Giving this opportunity to go into the quarry will give users an experience and memory of the quarry and Lacoste, France.
Inspiration for the look of this interactive museum is taken from Le Corbusier’s National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo, Japan. Le Corbusier’s minimal approach is crucial in the design of this interactive museum. The more minimalistic that this museum is the better interaction is with the guests and the artifacts in the museums galleries. The museum will also be broken into different parts of a sensory experience. These experiences and areas of the museum will be a past experiences, present experiences, and future experiences. These parts will be the graffiti walls, an interactive room that will have sections dedicated to the villagers of Lacoste, and a reflection gallery that will share special views of nature to the guests of Lacoste and the rock quarry.