FRAC Marseille | Kengo Kuma and associates

FRAC, or Fond Regional D’art Contemporain, was established in 1982 to decentralize artistic activities in France, and has its offices and facilities in Provence, Alps and Cote D’Azur. It aims to support young artists and their works, and each facility is closely connected with its locals. Following their attitude, FRAC Marseille is also a place-on-the-street type of cultural center that is entirely open to the region. The site is in a unique triangle shape, sandwiched between two streets in the waterfront quarter of the town. What we wanted was not a closed gallery but was an elevated street that could work as it is an exhibition space and a workshop. On the elevated street, there is a knot set up as an open air plaza, which functions also as a meeting place or even a party room. In this way, inside and outside can be effectively linked, and this is what FRAC has aimed since its inception. Marseille is known for Le Corbusier’s Unité d'Habitation, which was also an attempt for an elevated street. But Corbusier did not think of connecting Unite’s street to the ground, and it remains floating in the air. Our street is spiral so it could be directly touched to the earth. The external wall consists of 63cm×26cm particles made of enamel glass, and are fixed in checkered pattern with gaps in between. By this treatment, the building is given openness and transparency that are hard to gain from conventional glass box.