There
was no ambiguity about the client's requirement: the project was to be
"traditional" in nature, bearing in mind that what is considered to
be traditional Alpine architecture these days is in fact a kitsch mixture of a
wide variety of regional styles. We hesitated a long time before accepting the
conditions of the commission, which was totally outside our normal fields of
interest. Rather than running away, we finally decided to tackle these
questions of kitsch and décor head-on. They are the reality of contemporary
building in the mountains, to the point that even the modern and functionalist
architecture of ski resorts is gradually being dressed with stone and timber
cladding.
Like many winter sports resorts built in the 1960s, the Les 2 Alpes ski
station has identity problems: large
buildings put up with no overall design rationale, chaotic relationship with
the landscape... The mountains are now looking for a new image to counter the
expressions of a sometimes excessive modernity.
They want to return to their roots.
Our project for the cultural and sports centre
is an experiment in divergence from the archetypal language of the chalet:
because of regulatory requirements, the project is contained within a basic
rectangular structure with dual-section roofs, like a barn. The building is a
telescopic structure split into 3 nested sections – the sports hall, the hall
and a communal spaces, the theatre – with both walls and roof entirely faced
with wood.
Wood is used here as a cultural referent for
the mountains. The timber motif came into traditional regional architecture
with the invention of the band saw. It
is on the rise again because of the development of automatic cutting systems
and computer-controlled cutting. Reflecting the return to popularity of this
technique, the whole height of the sports hall is covered with a timber
lacework based on a motif copied from the guard rails of an old chalet. The
pattern, enlarged and multiplied to form a regular grid, changes its status and
becomes a repetitive, abstract composition.
The wall of the performance hall is faced with narrow, unjointed wooden
strips, with their edges cut at an angle to prevent water accumulating. The
name of the facility is burnt directly onto this cladding – another old
technique very much in fashion today, recruited into the language of modernity.
Inside the sports hall and the communal spaces,
the walls and ceilings are faced with boards, some of them in natural wood and
others painted in several colours, in order to generate a sort of "dyeing”
effect. The gable walls of the gymnasium are made of natural sand concrete, set
with multiple climbing holds in the same range of colours as used for the boards.
The performance hall, with its black painted
concrete walls and ceilings, is topped with a large red snowflake-shaped
chandelier, which provides both light for the audience and acoustic correction.
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