Antipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés

Antipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés - Exterior PhotographyAntipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés - Exterior PhotographyAntipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés - Interior PhotographyAntipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés - Exterior Photography, Facade, ChairAntipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés - More Images+ 28

  • Assistant Architects: Lukas Unbekandt, Thibaut Muller, Diego Bastos-Romero, Olivier Poulat
  • Project & Site Supervision: Hugo Maurice
  • Electricity: BET G. Jost
  • Fluids Engineer: BET Louis Choulet
  • Economist: E3 Économie
  • Scenography: Atelier Sophie Thomas
  • Landscape Architect: BRUNO KUBLER
  • City: Rennes
  • Country: France
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Antipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés - Exterior Photography
© Eugeni Pons

Text description provided by the architects. The cultural hub Antipode is constructed in the new concerted development zone of the eco-district of La Courrouze, two kilometers away from the historic center of Rennes with very good tramways and soft mobility connections. Urban planners Secchi and Vigano organized various programs like large islets flooded by vegetation. The site is a vast territory on which were historically armament factories. To make its memory last, some walls have been preserved as well as large trees that punctuate the horizon.

Antipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés - Exterior Photography, Garden
© Eugeni Pons
Antipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés - Exterior Photography
© Eugeni Pons
Antipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés - Image 27 of 33
Site plan

The project is part of a very open urban landscape. The building is flooded with greenery in this wooded universe, a phenomenon that will increase with time. The structure will reveal itself through the large oak trees, a filtered vision through the canopy. Like a castle in its park, the building, as if concealed, will emerge through this vegetal universe.

Antipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés - Interior Photography
© Eugeni Pons

For this wealthy program, the objective was to weave relationships between very different architectural elements.

Antipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés - Image 28 of 33
Ground floor plan

The agora connects blocks as different as a current music scene, a media library, music rehearsal spaces, a Youth cultural center, music and recording studios, dance rooms, and a creation and rehearsal space. The challenge was to bring them all together while taking advantage of the unusual proximity of such cultural services.

Antipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés - Interior Photography, Kitchen
© Eugeni Pons
Antipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés - Interior Photography, Table, Chair
© Eugeni Pons

Around a central agora with an added patio, the spaces are intermingled, and fused to connect the plan's elements intended for public use such as the bar, the exhibition space, or the conference room. The building covers the site generously and occupies the entire plot. The spaces seem to be positioned side by side with no apparent hierarchy.

Antipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés - Interior Photography
© Eugeni Pons

The project is drawn like an extended and compact mass from which the empty spaces have been removed. The natural light irrigates the spaces thanks to the four patios and some terraces. The visitor is constantly drawn to these interior exteriors which stand as landmarks. The empty zones visible in the sectional arrangement and the numerous sectional drawings create micro-spaces.

Antipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés - Interior Photography, Windows
© Eugeni Pons
Antipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés - Image 33 of 33
Section

The almost maze-like layouts reveal the complexity of the interweaving programs and their layers. Like a Raum, the unusually scaled plan emphasizes an apparent absence of hierarchy. The crossings and intertwining paths are aimed at better highlighting the programs.

Antipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés - Interior Photography, Chair
© Eugeni Pons
Antipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés - Interior Photography, Living Room, Table, Lighting, Chair, Windows
© Eugeni Pons

Here is an architecture of the interstice, an architecture of the crevice. On the outside, the black mass of the building contrasts with the luminosity of the interior spaces. The media library catches the light on all four sides as if it were evading from this thick, compact mass.

Antipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés - Exterior Photography
© Eugeni Pons

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Project location

Address:75 Av. Jules Maniez, 35000 Rennes, France

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "Antipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés" 21 Jun 2023. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1002755/antipode-music-youth-and-cultural-center-dominique-coulon-and-associes> ISSN 0719-8884

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