Cité du Design, France : Saint-Étienne Building

Cité du Design Saint-Étienne

On March 28th 2010 the international exhibition Green Life - Building Sustainable Cities will close at the Triennale di Milano.

There Cité du Design, Saint-Étienne is showcased among urban development projects based on sustainability and eco-friendly building techniques.

The Cité du Design is a new international institution for communication, dissemination, research and training for design. Its most experimental element is the so called Platine, a large 200x32 m single space that articulates the different buildings and activities of the Cité du Design.

The Platine is an interclimatic laboratory whose adaptable skin encloses several programs and responds to their needs in terms of light and climate. The 14,000 modular triangular panels which make up its envelope integrate into one coherent system different types of energy producing elements, including photovoltaic panels.

DAM prize for Architecture in Germany 2010 - The 23 best buildings in / from Germany
Cité du Design, Saint-Étienne by LIN will be showcased within the exhibition at DAM, Frankfurt, Germany
29 Jan - 29 May 2011

Exhibition: 5 Feb - 28 Mar 2010
Triennale di Milano / Viale Alemagna, 6 / 20121 - Milano

Previously:

LIN Finn Geipel + Giulia Andi, architects urbanists, announce the opening of the Cité du design at Saint-Etienne, which has just been inaugurated by Frédéric Mitterrand, the Minister of Culture for France.

The 'Platine' ; View of the ensemble (from the north):
 
photo © LIN Finn Geipel + Giulia Andi photographer: Jan-Oliver Kunze, LIN

The Cité du design is a new international institution for communication, dissemination, research and training for design. The project involves the transformation of the Saint-Etienne Manufacture d'Armes, one of the major industrial spaces of the territory. It also represents a first step in the city's redevelopment.

The essential elements consist of the restoration of some of the buildings of the old Manufacture, a new building, the large 200x32 m single space called La Platine, an Observatory tower, two Gardens, and the Place d'Armes, a large public plaza.

Observation tower

photo © LIN Finn Geipel + Giulia Andi photographer: Francois Maisonnasse, LIN

The Platine is an interclimatic laboratory whose adaptable skin encloses several programs, such as exhibition spaces, the auditorium, the Agora, the Greenhouse and the Material Library, and responds to their needs in terms of light and climate. It is also an articulation between the different activities of the Cité du design.

The 'Platine' ; The 'Platine' exhibition space B
 
photo © LIN Finn Geipel + Giulia Andi photographer: Jan-Oliver Kunze, LIN

The 'Platine' (from the south) ; Observation tower
 
photo © LIN Finn Geipel + Giulia Andi photographer: Jan-Oliver Kunze, LIN

Client: Saint-Étienne Métropole
with the assistance of the European Community, the National Government, the Rhône-Alpes Region and the Département de la Loire

Photographs: Christian Richters, Jan-Oliver Kunze and François Maisonnasse.



Previously: