diploma projectFILM THEATRE & ARCHIVE IN LYON, FRANCE

shadow & memoryFilm theatre and archive in Lyon, FranceSpring semester, Year 3 (Diploma Project)

The project links the ideas of memory, shadow and physical space by exploring relationships between theatre/performance and memory/archive. Giulio Camillo, a sixteenth century thinker and rhetorician, linked memory and theatre in his famous Memory Theatre project, based on the idea that we remember the best when we link our conceptual to our (stronger) spatial memory by relating memories to certain places (architectural mnemonics). This design task also embraces the idea of shadow as a positive figure in architecture inspired the Story of the Maid of Corinth (AD. 79). Butades was a daughter of a potter living in Corinth and as her lover was to leave for a perilous journey, she traced his silhouette onto the wall to keep his memory. Her father then used the drawing to model a clay relief. If the wall represents architectre, then shadow is seen as the origin of both the graphic and plastic arts, all linked to the potential of architecture and art to embody memory...

The project asks for a small theatre for Lyon with real archive needs, but the above mentioned ideas are suggestive of the ways in which architectural places can evoke memories. The theatre is for film enthusiasts focusing on black and white movies, which is an interesting basis to explore the shadow and memory theme and also celebrates the fact that Lyon is the birthplace of cinema. The main auditorium is an indoor performance space for 300 people also suitable for other kinds of performances at different times (but not to the extent of being a neutral warehouse ‘black box’). The building also requires a foyer of appropriate size, a small café/bar/restaurant and relevant support areas (backstage, wc’s, cloakroom, etc.). The archive is designed with special attention to the explosive potential of old films and it also has secure links to a small study room and library space for about 4-6 people, plus office space for 2 members of staff and a curator. The overall project size is between 2000 to 2500 square meters excluding external landscaping.

CONCEPTUAL MONTAGEusing the evocative materials of the ruins around the site to generate a design concept

LYON seen from Fourviere Hill

SITE

LYON

Lyon has a temperate climate, classed as borderline oceanic and humid subtropical, with cool winters and very warm summers. Its topography is dominated by Rhone and Saone rivers. The original medieval city (Vieux Lyon) was built on the west bank of the Saone river. The site is situated on Fourviere, one of the two main hills of Lyon, west to the historical city centre.

Lyon was founded on the Fourviere Hill as a Roman colony in 43 BC. Thanks to its convenient location at the convergence of navigable rivers, it soon became the main city of Gaul.

LYONLocated in east-central France in the Rhones-Alpes Region, Lyon is 2 hours from Paris and 1.5 hour from Geneva or Marseille. It is the third largest city in France, famous for its his-torical and architectural landmarks.

The site is set in a rich historical con-text, directly adjacent to Odeum, the smaller one of the two surviving Roman Amphitheatres on the gentle slope of the hill of Fourviére. The Odeum, orig-inally a covered building used for mu-sical performances, public reading as well as meeting place for the notables of the city, has a 3000 seat capacity and was built around 100 A.D. during the reign of Hadrian.

SITE

Because of the high cultural value of the historical context, Vieux-Lyon (the neighbourhhod) is protected by Plan for Preservation and Enhancement. Therefore the project requires a highly sensitive design approach.

ODEUM ESPLANADEThe existing buildings on the site (left handside) are less than a hundred years old, therefore their removal is viable.

“I CAN TAKE ANY EMPTY SPACE AND CALL IT A BARE STAGE. A MAN WALKS ACROSS THIS EMPTY SPACE WHILST SOMEONE ELSE IS WATCHING HIM, AND THIS IS ALL THAT NEEDED FOR AN ACT OF THEATRE TO BE ENGAGED.”

Peter Brook: The Empty Space, London, 1968

PRECEDENTS1. Girona: steps as public seats 2. Aldo van Eyck’s Sculpture Park: parallel walls punctuated with openings to allow glimpses across spaces. 3. Exposed concrete as precedent for materiality. 4. Translucent screens: concept of transparency opposed to opaqueness. 5. Transparent archive allow-ing the public to see the content yet providing safety.

The conceptual sketch model (below and right) is my first spatial proposal for the project. I was in-terested in creating meaning spaces with different characteristics and a sense of “trapping” history between walls. The process sketch left handside shows an idea that I later abandoned in favour of the original concept, which was simpler but had stronger architectural qualities.

MEMORIESBy looking at the places I visited during the class trips of my university years, I was exploring the relationship between spaces (in terms of scale, proportion, materials, character and shadows) and the memories they evoke. The photos are taken in Copenhagen, Barcelona, Girona and Lyon.

MAIN PLANThe building is essentiallty a sequence of the public spaces offering jouneys from the street level up to the stage level of the amphitheatre.

GROUND LEVEL PLAN SECTIONCut at ground floor level, the plan reveals the service spaces below the first floor level: the kitchen under the café, the box office, the relationship of the backstage to the dressing rooms and the spaces attached to the Archive.

FIRST LEVEL PLAN SECTIONCut at first floor level, the plan reveals all the service spaces hidden below the second floor level: it shows the location of the toilets, storage spaces and the plant rooms for environmental control.

THE “LANDSCAPE”The public floor is basically a man-made landscape consisting of a series of steps

SERVICE SPACESThe spaces serving the public levels are located underneath

PARALLEL WALLSStructural concrete walls pen-etrated with openings divide and create spaces

BUILDING ENVELOPEThe theatre is covered with opaque and glass roofs

MAIN SECTION showing the Auditorium space during the day as a continuous indoor public space connecting the street with the stage level of Odeum

SECTION DURING EVENINGshowing the Auditorium space being used during a performance. It becomes a separate space enclosed by two vertically sliding acousti-cally insulated panels at the front and back that are hidden under-ground during the day. For theatre performances the vertically moving stage connects the stage to the backstage areas.

The adjustable shutters keep out the last rays of the setting sun. The auditorium is mechanically heated/cooled/ventilated from beneath the seating area. DAYTIME EVENINGS

ELEVATION

SECTION OF A SECONDARY SPACEshowing the café and the gallery spaces

ROOF PLAN

CONNECTION TO THE PASTThe new building becomes an integral part of the ancient Roman structure: de-spite being contemporary, it conveys a sense of timelessness, a feeling that “it has always been there”. Therefore in its materiality and geometry it is quiet, sub-tle and respectful to the existing ruins.

The end of the steps is linked to the stage level of the Amphitheatre and the roof of the Theatre (not visible on the picture left handside) becomes a viewing platform, that extends from the stage.

MOMENTSThe thick and heavy concrete walls are punctuated with openings allowing views from one space to another: note the feet of the lady going up the steps are visible through a horizontal gap in the left wall. The wide steps of the foyer has been divided up by scattered ‘boxes’ creating an informal seating zone in the middle, leaving the two sides for circulation.

OPEN AUDITORIUM SPACE & NATURAL VENTILATIONThe continuity of the spaces in the Theatre is an advantage at its natural ventilation: In the morning the rising hot air from the lower regions (City of Lyon) passes through the building. During the night the de-scending cold air from the hills provide passive ventilation.

TRANSPARENCYAll the walls perpendicular to the parallel concrete walls are transparent which creates a contrast between rough heavyness and delicate transparency. Note the view of the Amphitheatre through the sky-window.

MATERIALITYThe exposed concrete wall and a more delicate lime-stone floor are separated by a narrow gap at their junc-tion, into which lighting is installed.

The holes in the walls can also be used for seating or displaying artworks. This makes the walls an element of the archive and gives a new layer of meaning in terms of keeping memories by creating shadows.

PUBLIC LEVELthe steel drainage pipe is com-pletely hidden in the concrete wall on the public level

ROOF LEVELrainwater is gathered by glass roofs with 2 degree slope

SERVICE LEVELthe pipe becomes accessible for maintenance purposes in the plant rooms where the greywater is be-ing filtered and pumped back up for flushing toilets

FILTER PUMP

HANDRAIL DETAILWooden handrail is set into a smooth void carved into the rough concrete wall.

RAINWATER RECYCLING

ACCESSIBILITYA lift in the cafe is available for the disabled people to access the auditorium on first floor

FIRE SAFETY PLANThe travel distances meet the requirements of the British Building Regulations 2010 Approved Documents Part B1.

DAN LIUWelsh School of Architecture

2012, Cardiff