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Bernard Tschumi urbanistes Architectes (Paris)
Bernard Tschumis sleek, curvilinear skin heightens the profile of the Vacheron
Constantin HeadQuarters and factory
outside Geneva
By Suzanne Stephens
Vacheron Constantin
Factory and Headquarters
This building serves as the manufacturing and administrative headquarters of
Switzerlands oldest watchmaking company. The concept for this building is based on the
idea of a thin, flexible envelope. The exterior surface is formed from a metallic sheet that
unrolls over the structures geometry, lifting to create a larger multistory portion of the
building. The interior is clad with wood veneer. The resulting space is sleek and precise
outside, warm and inviting inside. The logic of unrolling makes the building appear almost
unenclosed. The envelope opens to welcome workers and visitors, admitting ample direct
light
on
the
north
side
and
filtered
light
on
the
south
side.
In contrast to the wood-and-metal envelope, major movement vectors are made of glass.
For example, in the multistory part of the building, a glass atrium contains several
circulation elements-such as walkways, stairs, and an elevator-all made of glass. The
building rests on an artificial dip in the landscape that houses a naturally lit parking garage.
Above the garage, in the lower, flat section of the envelope, a tranquil, airy patio extends
through the building from east to west. The continuity of the monolithic metal cladding
lends the building a visual and functional coherence, and suggests a fluid relationship
between management, design, and production in the companys operations.
Design Team Partners in charge: Bernard Tschumi, Vronique Descharrires
Project
Architects:
Joel
Rutten,
Alex
Reid
Designers: Matteo Vigano, Cristina Devizzi, Jean-Jacques Hubert, Antoine Santiard,
Yann Brossier, Ludovic Ghirardi, Nicolas Martin, Phu Hoang, Jane Kim, Jonathan Chace,
Adam Dayem, Robert Holton, Valentin Bontjes van Beek, Michaela Metcalfe, Justin
Moore,
Allis
Chee,
Joel
Aviles,
Liz
Kim
Consultants Structural: ARUP (Matt King) and SGI; HVAC: Enerconom; Electrical:
Scherler; Facade: BCS; Landscape: Michel Desvigne; Mechanical: ARUP (Nigel Tonks),
Wood: Dic Dauner; Construction Administration: Ortech; Bidding Documents: EMA,
Geneva
to the architectural concept include the trusses needed to provide the clear spans, and
which ultimately become a diagonal patterning and the faades mullion structure.
With the Concert Hall in Limoges, France, Tschumi reintroduces the general envelope
concept, but recontextualizes it and offers material substitutions. Limoges is based on his
concert hall in Rouen, France, but instead of concrete, the hall in Limoges uses an exterior
skin of wood because of its location within a large forest. This powerful body of work,
realized over the last several years, gives physical form to an architectural discourse that
has made Tschumi a leading theorist of his generation.
Anno di realizzazione:
2004
Arredamento:
open mind