Pierres Vives Building, Montpellier - PR from Zaha Hadid Architects 021006

The ‘’Pierres Vives building’’of the Department of Herault in Montpellier, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects is due to start on site at the end of this year.



The building is a unique combination of three civic institutions - the archives, the library and the sports department - within a single envelope.



Given the contained programs, the spectacular design is inspired by the idea of a 'tree of knowledge' as an organizational diagram. The archive is located at the solid base of the trunk, followed by the slightly more porous library, with the sports department and its offices on top where the trunk bifurcates and becomes much lighter. These various parts of this "cite administrative" share several functions at the heart of the building, with auditorium and meeting rooms combining in a huge cantilever canopy above the main entrance. The branches projecting off the main trunk on ground floor, articulate the entrances into the various institutions. All the public entrances are located on the western side of the building; whilst the service entrances for staff and loading bays are on the eastern side. In this way the tree-trunk analogy is exploited to organise and articulate the complexity of the overall "cite administrative".



Zaha Hadid consistently pushes the boundaries of architecture and urban design. Her work experiments with new spatial concepts ranging widely from urban master planning to products, interiors, and furniture.



She is best known for her seminal built works - the Vitra Fire Station in Weil-am-Rhein, Germany (1993); the Hoenheim Nord Terminus in Strasbourg, France (2001); the Bergisel Ski Jump in Innsbruck, Austria (2002); the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati, USA (2003); the BMW Central Building in Leipzig, Germany; the Hotel Puerta America interiors in Madrid, Spain; the Ordrupgaard Museum extension in Copenhagen and the Phaeno Science Centre in Germany (all 2005).



In 2004 Zaha Hadid won the prestigious Pritzker Prize for Architecture





Zaha Hadid’s ‘’Pierres Vives’’ Building - Credits:
Client: Département de l’Hérault
Client representative: Hérault Aménagement
Architectural design: Zaha Hadid
Project architect: Stephane Hof
Pierres Vives Montpellier : physical / CAD models + Zaha Hadid sketches

For further information of Zaha Hadid’s Pierres Vives Building, please contact Roger Howie : +44 207 253 51 47
Montpellier building architect : Zaha Hadid

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Buildings / photos for the Montpellier Architecture page welcome:
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Pierres Vives building, Herault, Montpellier - page: adrian welch / isabelle lomholt