Clément Blanchet Architecture has been selected as the winner of an international competition for the design of a new cultural center to be located in the Paris suburb of Gonesse, France, beating out proposals from Bernard Tschumi & Moreau Kusunoki.
Named Circus³, the facility features a unique tensile roof evocative of a circus pavilion, and will house a 1,500 seat theater for a variety of cultural performances and events.
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“This a unique performance venue to EuropaCity and the region, that will be designed specifically to host an internationally branded show, featuring advanced technical features,” explain the architects.
CIRCUS ³ is focused around three principle design moves:
- Free the ground and let the landscape grow
- Raise an horizontal scenographic and flexible platform framing the main room
- Display the roof as a metaphor of the circus, a place for all activities.
The resulting design produces an urban effect that gestures toward the public plaza and becomes a new piece of “transparent infrastructure” where the public can gather and interact.
“The contemporary circus is the demonstration of an historical synthesis and at the same time of a technological engagement,” the architects explain. “The superposition of programs and potentials improves the great entertainment but also maintains a collective memory of the classical typology.”
The central element of the building, the performance space, will use top-of-the-line technology to transform into a variety of configurations capable of housing shows of different types and sizes.
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According to the architects, the show is greater than just what is being formed on stage, but must resonate throughout the entire design.
“The place is the show, is show; make the show, make the place."
Architects
Location
95500 Gonesse, FranceDesign Team
Clément Blanchet Architecture, Laurent Menabe, Ducks ScénoPhotographs
Courtesy of Clement Blanchet ArchitectureArchitects
