26 mars 2019

Interview : The Pavilion architecture

An architecture that flows beyond a building’s conventional edges, that literally intertwines matter and light.

How did you tackle this project?

We started with the great World Expo pavilions we’ve seen throughout history. And we decided it was time for geography to get even with history in Dubai. Here, the climate rules. The sun reigns supreme during the daytime, night falls at 6pm, and that’s that. The French pavilion will befittingly create its own shade and its own light in Dubai; it will fashion its own photogenic appeal and craft its own visual language.

Where did you find inspiration for the French pavilion’s architecture?

The architecture alludes to other large agorae, big live entertainment venues, Greek temples. The awning is what ties the pavilion together. It’s also its hallmark. Then there’s that wide-open space you see in palaces. There are practically no façades. The underside is what gives the building its emotional charge. And the forecourt is actually inside the pavilion. In the Middle Ages, people would gather on forecourts to watch mystery plays. In Dubai, they will be able to enjoy temporary outdoor exhibitions there.

How does the Pavilion tie in with the idea of “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”?

It will be a place where people connect on an emotional level. The idea is to turn the waiting area into one of the highlights. We want to make the most of it when the biggest crowds gather there to treat them to a concert of sensations they’ll remember. We want to turn the Pavilion’s forecourt into something people aren’t expecting: a public gathering, a haven where people enjoy the syncopating images together.

And where does the “Light, Lights” concept fit in?

Light is the physical phenomenon that makes life possible. And Lights refers to the century of lights, to the 18th century, to the French minds that shone in the Enlightenment. Our goal was to create architecture that flows beyond a building’s conventional edges, that literally intertwines matter and light. The Pavilion’s LED-sprinkled metallic skin will clothe the building in light. It will project and screen images that shift shape as the hours and seasons parade by.

The pavilion in Dubai is supposed to be the most sustainable one France has ever built. How are you planning to pull it off?

We’ve factored, with Besix, the builder of the French Pavilion, every aspect of the sustainable development objectives into the equation. That’s what we’ve always done and what defines our firm. The pavilion is made of metal. It will be fully dismantlable and come from a dry production process. The common area is brimming with vegetation and constantly in the building’s shadow. The entire outer surface – including the roof – is covered in solar shingles, so the pavilion is self-sufficient, energy-wise. It has a passive adiabatic cooling system to save energy and a wastewater treatment unit to save water.

What will the French pavilion in Dubai need to succeed?

The French Pavilion is an exemplary project with great visibility which will be a beacon shining the values that France stands for today: its industrial expertise, its economic drive, but also its unique “savoir-vivre” highlighted by the luxury stores and the gourmet restaurant. It’s a virtuous, alluring and astonishing building.

Dubai Municipality offered to buy it by the end of the Expo to transform into an exhibition and educational space.