FRAC centre opens in new site by jakob + macfarlane

FRAC centre opens in new site by jakob + macfarlane
image © nicolas borel
all images courtesy jakob + macfarlane

paris-based duo jakob + macfarlane have designed the new site of the FRAC centre in orleans, france. the regional arts fund, dedicated to showcasing so-called radical architecture, is now housed in a 18th century detention center-turned-hospital. after a brief 1837 stint as a military supply depot, the historic building has entered it’s latest life as a cultural repository extended by the likes of a faceted parametric form. based on the extrusion of existing architectonic grids, the tubular prosthetic reframes the courtyard as a public space and serves to link the existing buildings. the grafted extension, dubbed ‘the turbulences’, acts as an urban signal in particular with the collaboration of artist duo electronic shadow. the intervention within the intervention consists of several hundred diodes installed on the prismatic aluminum facade, each arranged in a composition of varying densities based on the vertices of structure. the architecture becomes an immaterial interface between the built space and the urban environment as the interactive skin is expressed as points, lines and planes of light. a software program functions in real time to dictate the light show based on climactic data and animated scenarios devised by electronic shadow. as such, the building’s surface articulates flows of information as volume and mass is rendered a luminous sign.

the extension draws from the lines of  the existing building
image © nicolas borel
image courtesy jakob + macfarlane

faceted aluminum cladding articulates the tubular shapes
image © nicolas borel
image courtesy jakob + macfarlane

dubbed ‘the tubulences’ the addition links the historic buildings to the courtyard
image © nicolas borel
image courtesy jakob + macfarlane

a dynamic skin characterizes the structure
image © nicolas borel
image courtesy jakob + macfarlane

interior view
image © nicolas borel
image courtesy jakob + macfarlane

in collaboration with electronic shadow, hundreds of diodes express climactic information as points of light
image © nicolas borel
image courtesy jakob + macfarlane

image © nicolas borel
image courtesy jakob + macfarlane

artists render the building skin as illuminated, abstractly informative signage
image © nicolas borel
image courtesy jakob + macfarlane

view of the structure in progress
image © nicolas borel
image courtesy jakob + macfarlane

construction site views
image © nicolas borel
image courtesy jakob + macfarlane

renderings show ‘the tubulence’ inhabiting the space
image © nicolas borel
image courtesy jakob + macfarlane