The house of books, sounds and images
Villeurbanne
,
F
rance
1984-1988
Project
1984 (project competition)
Construction
1985-1988
Commissioned by
City of Villeurbanne
,
France
Site area
5’400 m²
Volume
18'000 m³
“The idea from the outset was to construct a central element of reference. And this corresponds to the necessity I feel to find a “backbone” in every project, so that people entering the building will have a chance to orient themselves. It could be a shaft of light or a structural element. The idea for the competition was to create a house made of empty space within the solid building, with connecting stairs winding around the void. Then, little by little, I arrived at the final solution, perhaps less complex, but maybe also better considering the building’s relatively small dimensions. There are no direct references to illuminist or neoclassical architecture. This space was born more of an intuition of light, of static reasoning - but also of agreements with the fire department, who forced me to put the tempered glass around the central void.”
Mario Botta La ricerca degli anni ‘80,
edited by Peter Disch, Lugano 1990
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