The Building, a curatorial machine

Rem Koolhaas

Date: 2018

Dimensions: 2, 200 m2: surface area; 875 m2: exhibition surface area; 350 m2: production workshop; 19 m: height of exhibition tower; 50 m2: large mobile floor; 25 m2: small mobile floor

Located in a 19th century industrial building of 2, 200 m2, Lafayette Anticipations is a place for creation, innovation and research. The renovation project is led by architect Rem Koolhaas and his firm, OMA.

The seven story industrial building, characteristic of the end of the 19th century, is structured in a U-shape around a courtyard. The building can be crossed freely, thus leading to the rue Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie via a covered passage. The architectural intervention manages to articulate two seemingly contradictory conditions: the desire for programmatic flexibility and the respect of strict and mandatory preservation rules. The building is the laureate of the "prix spécial du jury de l'Equerre d'argent 2018". An “exhibition tower” equipped with four mobile platforms is inserted into the building’s courtyard. These motorized platforms can move independently along rails and align with the existing floors. With each exhibit, these innovative platforms will allow the space to be reconfigured in 49 different ways. These multiple arrangements will instil verticality, flexibility and adaptability, as required by numerous current and future projects. The building will offer 875 m2 of exhibition space. This curatorial machine completes another fundamental component of the Fondation: its production workshop situated in the building’s basement. Here, pieces can be conceived and created by guest artists. The simultaneous use of these two structural features will foster the creation of unique projects, with their own spatial configuration.