Tjibaou Cultural Centre

the new cultural centre at Noumea in New Caledonia. The JM

Tjibaou Cultural Centre is named after Jean Marie Tjibaou, who
lead the New Caledonian Independence Movement.

Although Tjibaou died in 1989, it had already been decided that

a cultural centre would be built for the Kanak people in honour
of Jean Marie Tjibaou.

The land for the centre was donated to the Kanak Cultural
Agency (ADCK) by the municipality of Noumea.

The site is a thin peninsula protruding south into a lagoon.

This site is important in Kanak history, as it was here that
Tjibaou held the Melanesia 2000 festival in 1975, one of the
key moments in the struggle for cultural and political
recognition by France.
A competition was held to design and build the centre. The
winning design was by Renzo Piano and with the help from
the Kanak people, the widowed Marie-Claude Tjibaou and
structural engineers Ove Arup and Partners, his original
design was refined to what we see here today.

It was a successful and satisfying combination of traditional

beliefs and habits and modern technology. The aim of the
project was to give the Kanak people a place to learn and
appreciate their history, but not to be stagnated by it.

To look to future as a world where both their traditional world

and the modern world can simultaneously grow with each
other. Here we see some of Piano’s initial drawings and
sketches of traditional huts. In the photo a resemblance can be
made between the traditional hut and the forms used in
Piano’s design.
Piano drew inspiration from traditional Kanak culture and from
the surrounding environment. He took from them the idea of
the clustered village.

In plan and elevation the centre is arranged in clusters of three

groups of three.

The first group focussing on the Kanak historical and

environmental exhibitions, the second housing administration
and the third being dance, music and graphic studios.
In Kanak culture it is believed that the most respectable route
to anothers house is often indirect. therefore an indirect
approach to the centre was provided by Piano.

The entrance is located tangentially to the main corridor/path

behind the hut-like structures, compared to a more direct,
linear approach.
As one enters, the clustered village effect is concreted by the
simple arcing path, which connects each group of hut structures
to one another.

Like a journey through a village there are distances between

each hut, allowing the surroundings to be taken in, as well as
allowing time for contemplation until the next hut is reached.

A feeling of departing one group and arriving at another,

further portrays the changes and evolution of the Kanak people.
As mentioned earlier Piano does draw inspiration from the
traditional conical houses of the Kanak people. Originally
Piano’s hut structures came together at the top.

Piano decided that greater ventilation would be achieved if

they were open at the top, as well a lesser resemblance to the
traditional conical hut would be achieved.

Piano also uses a ribbed structure similar to that used in the

construction of the traditional huts. Instead of using small
palm saplings, Piano’s interpretation is of a much greater
scale - having to withstand cyclonic winds, and to be
structurally stable for the height that the structures reach, up
to 28m.
Central to the aims of the project was a building that would
be ecologically integrated with its site. Therefore boundaries
between the building and its context were blurred.

Whilst the structure needed to be magnificent to embody the

dreams and memories of past, present and future generations,
it could not be an imposing structure. This constraint lead to
the design of forms and structures which create magnificent
transparent silhouettes, and rather than being about the spaces
they enclose they are light and semi-transparent with an
emphasis on the spaces they infer and open up.

The combination of traditional and modern building materials

is also seen here. The flat roof of steel and glass is supported
by iroko timber columns.
Inside Piano opens up parts of the journey to the outside.
There is an intended blurring of building and site as seen
here, with the louvred wall and this semi-enclosed courtyard.
A combination of timber and stainless steel make up the
structures. a joint connection detail and in plan a section of the
double skinned ribbed structure is there in next slide. Each
curved outer rib is linked to a straight vertical one, which forms
part of the structure of the perimeter of the enclosed space. The
curved ribs carry horizontal slats which have some effect on
modifying the effects of the high winds.

The forms are made of laminated iroko, structurally linked by

horizontal tubes and diagonal rod ties of stainless steel. The
iroko timber is West African chosen for its incredible strength, its
natural oils which act as a protection against termites and
weathering and its hue which blends with its natural
surroundings. Piano’s intention is that the iroko timber will
weather to the same pale silver grey as the trunks of the palm
trees, without rotting.
Ventilation was also an important consideration in Piano’s
design. The natural ventilation is a passive system which uses
the always present trade winds to draw out the stale air within
the centre providing constant circulation if desired. The hut
like structures have a double skin which provides the natural
circulation and cooling.
Internal conditions are controlled by louvres which can be
manually manipulated to achieve different conditions or to
protect against cyclonic winds. The diagrams demonstrate
typical internal conditions. When the hut structure is closed
off from the corridor; when it is open to the corridor and rest of
the centre providing maximum circulation; and also during
cyclonic winds, where the entire structure is closed off and
protected.

The photo shows the two lots of louvres at the top and bottom,
which allows the air to circulate from outside to inside and
then out again.

The wind through the wooden slats can sometimes create

sounds that howl and echo through the centre. For the Kanak
people, “the wind surging through the slats gives the huts a
voice; being that of the Kanak villages and their forests.”
Efforts by :

Name : Deepika gulati

College : university school of architecture and planning

Roll no : 29

2nd year