By FinchD
Photography: Courtesy
Manuelle Gautrand Architecture
Read Time: 2 mins
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| © Luc Boegly |
Manuelle Gautrand Architecture
ameliorates the Alésia Cinema in Paris, transforming it into a conspicuous mise en scène of cultural interaction, whilst
simultaneously conferring a vivid identity to the building.
Originally built around the 1930s, when
the medium of films became popular, the theatre has now been upgraded to an
eight screen multiplex, with modern amenities. Located in the central part of boulevard du Général-Leclerc -
characterized by an eclectic mix of architectural styles – the unassuming form
of the original building is camouflaged within this context.
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| ©Guillaume Guerin |
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| ©Luc Boegly |
Reworking on the
existing layout, the space is organised around eight distinct volumes, one for
each room of the theatre. The profile of the tiered steps of the auditorium is
reflected on the soffit of the level below it and consequently extends out to accommodate
common spaces like the lobby, circulation spaces, cafes and smaller
amphitheatres.
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| ©Guillaume Guerin |
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| ©Guillaume Guerin |
This simple
gesture of accentuating the stepped silhouette goes a long way towards breaking
the monotony in what would otherwise have been a vast, endless space, and in
fact affords an identity to the interiors of the cinema as an arrangement of
interlocked volumes around a triple-height atrium.
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| ©Luc Boegly |
The cinematic
experience is augmented via the pleated curtain of LEDs that forms the façade
of the building, distinguishing it in its immediate context. Divided into
strips along its vertical axis, the façade appears like a multi-faceted
surface, alternately folded upwards and downwards. The grid in the centre,
composed of glass panels and superimposed with LEDs, projects a range of
associative imagery, while the opaque metal grid on the periphery harmonises
this interface between the street and the interiors.
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| ©Guillaume Guerin |
The central
translucent section also illuminates the interior spaces with diffused colours
of the animated screen. Furthermore, the plates at the bottom fold upwards, to
create an almost horizontal canopy at the entrance.
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| © Luc Boegly ©Guillaume Guerin |
The restoration
bestows a visual grandeur to the cinema-going experience, expressed through its
pixelated façade of pleated LED panels. The new building thus celebrates cinema
as an art form, not only through the physical spatiality of its theatres, but
also by casting an external impression of what it holds, enabling the public to
engage with cinema, within and without.
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| ©Guillaume Guerin |
Fact File:
Project: Renovation of the ‘Alésia’ cinema, Paris.
Programme: Eight film theatres with a total of 1380
seats, ticket hall, atrium space, offices.
Architect: Manuelle Gautrand Architecture
Client: Gaumont-pathé
Design team:
Lighting design: ON
Facades: T/E/S/S
Structure: Khephren Ingenierie
Acoustics: Peutz
Building Gross surface area: 3, 600 sq.m.
Number of LED pixel clusters: 229 500
Number of bars: 3730.
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