culturespaces transforms french WWII submarine base into the largest digital art center

france’s leading museum and exhibition operating studio, culturespaces adapted bordeaux’s former WWII submarine base into the largest digital art center in the world — the ‘bassins de lumières’. the immersive exhibition will be open to public starting april 17, 2020 and will operate all year, seven days a week. similar to its prior multimedia exhibition, atelier des lumieres in paris, culturespaces will also devote its main exhibition spaces at bassins de lumières to iconic artists in art history, such as gustav klimt and paul klee.

all images courtesy of culturespaces

the submarine base’s surface area is three times the size of that of the carrières de lumières in les baux-de-provence, and five times that of the atelier des lumières in paris. the total projection surface area will be 12,000 square meters, requiring up to 90 video projectors and 80 speakers.

‘following the creation of the atelier des lumières, we are pleased that we have created this enormous digital art centre for the city of bordeaux,’ explains bruno monnier, president of culturespaces. ‘the bassins de lumières will offer visitors unforgettable visual and audio experiences in a unique setting, a place for sharing culture that is open to all types of visitors.’

adapting the architecture of the submarine base to its advantage, the exhibition will consist of four 16-meter deep basins for the main installations along with six other segments. each highlighting different aspects of the project, the six complementary areas include le cube — highlighting artists who specialize in immersive art; le citerne — creating links between museums and original works; les grands nenuphars — projecting exhibition into water; museum space — dedicated to the history of the submarine base; an educational area — information on the featured artists; and mezzanine floor — stage and seating offering different viewing points.

project info: 

exhibition: bassins de lumières

company: culturespaces

location: bordeaux, france

opening date: april 17, 2020