A Contextual Analysis of Norman Foster’s Carré d’Art
David Sikorski
Nîmes began as a prehistoric
settlement almost 2100 years ago. It
developed into a singular city-state
before becoming a colony of the Roman
Empire. This development gave the
city it’s first period of real growth, with
Emperor Augustus fortifying the city
and providing it with temples, statues, a
forum, and places for public gathering.
After the fall of the Roman Empire,
Nîmes has gone through a variety of ups
and downs. This eventually paved the
way to the contemporary Nîmes, a city
with a strong civic pride, a consistent
economy and a palpable sense of history
throughout.
With it’s long history, Nîmes has many
well-preserved monuments located
throughout the city.
The Jardins de la Fontaine, originally
a sacred spring at the city center, are
now civic gardens, laid out in the 18th
century.
The Arenes de Nîmes, a Roman
Coliseum circa 70 AD, is very well
maintained and still in use today for
bullfights and other public events.
And the Maison Carrée, one of the
most well-preserved examples of a
Roman Temple, which stands in its own
plaza and provides influence to the
surrounding buildings and streets.
A Perspective view of The Maison Carrée and
Carré d’Art
In 1984, the newly elected Mayor of
Nîmes, Jean Bousquet, began his vision
for the future of his city with an invite-
only competition to design a new cultural
and arts center for the city.
In order to fulfill his ambitious goal for
a “Pompidou of the South,” the mayor
invited twelve international architects to
meet. Five of the twelve were selected
to actually submit proposals.
After long deliberation, the committee
reached a surprising result; Norman
Foster. Over the next 10 years, his
challenge would be to dispel the idea
that modern buildings do not belong
in historic city centers.
A Perspective Sketch of the Jardins de la Fontaine
Greater Context of the City of Nîmes
_Jardins de la Fontaine (NW)
_Les Arenes de Nîmes (SE)
_Maison Carrée (NE)
_Carré d’Art (Center)
The difficulty of a fit into a strong
historical context, to respect the past
while still keeping a foothold in the
contemporary, is best addressed by
Rodolfo Machado1, a Harvard Design
Professor. He says that “building a
public place around a monument of
classical antiquity needs not to be an act
of mindless mimicry.”
A simple copy of another building does
not give the new building any character.
What was appropriate and fit in one time
is not relevant to the present. Instead,
the architects job is to learn from what
is there, to reference it and bring its
lessons into their own building.
A new building can take advantage
of context and its site. It can learn from
the surroundings and gain a certain
acceptance. The architecture should
inevitably put forth its considerations
and aspirations, while still fitting into the
crowd of buildings around.
The realization of such an idea
becomes more interesting with the
presence of a very strong voice in the
direct vicinity, such as the Maison
Carrée. This major historic work speaks
of weight, antiquity, sanctity and the
grandeur of the past Roman presence
in the city.
A Perspective Sketch of Les Arenes de Nîmes
A successful urban project needs to
engage the buildings context on multiple
scales
(1)__the direct, physical relations with
the ground that its built on
(2)__the vicinity, regarding both
movement around and relationships to the
surroundings, and
(3)__the greater urban fabric, the whole
city and the people that live there.
1.
Two Projects by Foster and Partners...
 Entry
Atrium
Floor
G round
Entry

‘An explosion of light as you come out of the

dark tunnels of trees.’ -Norman Foster East-West Section of the Carré d’Art
Courtesy of Foster + Partners2
How does the building relate to the direct context of the site?
Rue Gaston Boissier (top left... toward the Jardins de la Fontaine)
Boulevard Victor Hugo (through the site...Arenes de Nîmes)
Across the Boulevard (Maison Carrée)

When Norman Foster arrived in
Nîmes for the competition, he decided
he needed to explore the city before he
met with the mayor. Walking the streets
that night and the next morning, Foster
began to take note of the citywide urban
fabric within which his building would fit.
He was “deeply impressed by the
urban structure of Nîmes with its
strong, simple routes and good spaces
-- particularly the space which was the
setting for the Maison Carrée...this
space was familiar and worked well.”
His sketches illustrate this interest,
where he details of the strong routes he
observed in the city.
One route that Foster took particular
interest in was the diagonal path that
people took from the Jardins de la
Fontaine and the Maison Carrée. He
saw this as a perfect opportunity to bring
people into the building, to make it a
public place.
In order to create this space, Foster cut
through the center axis of the building,
keeping the ground floor open as a cut-
through for the public. However, instead
of placing entry on this main axis, which
would both confront the Maison Carrée
and diverge movement from the existing
diagonal path, Foster puts the entry off
axis on opposite sides.
Although Nîmes is a large, modern
city, it still conforms to its historical roots
by maintaining a relatively low skyline.
In engaging the scale of the street,
Foster sank the lower five stories into
the ground to keep the profile similar to
it’s surroundings.
This split of above and below
ground helps give a natural divide to
the buildings program. Below ground
houses the library and archive spaces.
Above, the gallery spaces, dedicated to
both 2D and 3D visual arts.
How do you link these two worlds
together, those of visual art and
literature, of new and old?
Foster’s answer is an atrium that
cuts through the center of the building,
extending up four levels past the
galleries to the roof, and down two levels
into the library space. This provides
the necessary link between the two
programs, blurring the boundaries
between the new and the old, the
traditional and contemporary.
The details incorporated in the atrium
helps create this richer totality. The light
from the glass roof is diffused through
fabric paneling and allowed to filter
down through the entire building. This
gives the lower two floors more light,
diminishing their below ground state.
The material palette further advances
the ideas of lightness and transparency,
with smooth concrete, local stone, metal
screens and glass. In the atrium this
palette is applied with frosted glass
staircases and elevators, all supported
by the slender concrete columns.
Foster’s use of a central atrium drew
from his experience throughout the city,
where the use of central gardens and
courtyards dot its site plan. This is a
common theme throughout southern
Europe, defining most city blocks. In
addition, it can provide passive cooling
and natural lighting throughout the
building.
The atrium and entry ways serve as
Foster’s primary means to referencing
the overall city. The northwestern entry
marks the end of the street from the
Jardins de la Fontaine. The southeastern
references the end of the boulevard from
the coliseum.
However, dealing soley with the larger
context of the city is only half of Foster’s
overall urban considerations.
2
Two Projects by Foster and Partners...

David Sikorski A Contextual Analysis of Norman Foster’s Carré d’Art

On site drawing of the front (SE) facade of the Carré d’Art
Foster’s biggest challenge in the
design was to confront the Maison
Carrée, the third century Roman temple
that sits directly across a public plaza,
East of the Carré d’Art.
Foster studied the elements that gave
the temple its character, it’s sense of
pride, and incorporated those which
he saw most important into his design.
These are manifested in the front facade
through
(1)__the plinth on which the building
resides,
(2)__the portico over the southeastern
entry way, and
(3)__the plaza between the buildings.
David Sikorski
The front facade sits as a perfect
example of a modern version of
classicism. Drawing from a simple
Roman grid from the plaza, five columns
rise to space the front facade. Each of
the four parts is then divided into another
two, creating an eight part front.
Although this doesn’t resemble a
classical order in either the number or
length of the spacings, the consistent
separation still gives it a feel reminiscent
of a temple front.
As a modern addition, the engaged
columns contain demarcations of the
buildings floor levels, giving the visitor an
idea of the structure and organization.
The front facade is capped by a
portico, meant to engage the passing
public in a welcoming dialogue, creating
a covered, stepped urban space to
bring them into the building. Walking
up into the raised entrance gives people
a chance to transition from the outside
bustle of the city into a slower, public
space.
The front facade and portico serve
another purpose, protecting the interior
and outdoor cafe from harsh sunlight.
Foster, more accustomed to northern
conditions, responded well with a
system of louvres and grilles to diffuse
the sunlight into the atrium and galleries.
In order to complete his design of the
Carré d’Art’s Urban context, Foster gave
the plaza space between his building
and the Maison Carré back to the
people. His sketches indicate he viewed
the plaza as a place of public gathering,
both formal and informal.
His first move was to remove the
parking lot situated there. During
this renovation, the ruins of a Roman
colonnade were uncovered. Thus, the
border of the plaza became a reference
to history, with columns outlined in the
ground and their partial remains, when
uncovered, resting where they once
stood.
The plaza was created by utilizing
Roman paving stones throughout the
public square, pillars to emphasize the
street, and discrete night-lighting on
both structures. The creation of a larger
plaza gave the city a new forum. This
simple act revitalized the entire quarter,
bringing in more locals and visitors.
The Carré d’Art refers, but does not
defer to its surroundings. It contrasts the
historical weight of Roman classicism
with the lightness of a modern building.
Its portico enters into a dialogue with the
historical neighbor, while maintaining a
modern identity and ultimately improving
the urban fabric within which it resides.
A Contextual Analysis of Norman Foster’s Carré d’Art
On site drawing of the Maison Carrée
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Powell, Ken, and Richard Bryant.
Carré D’art, Nîmes: Architects Sir
Norman Foster and Partners. London:
Wordsearch, 1993. Print.
Two Projects by Foster and Partners:
The Carré D’art, Nîmes & the Bilbao
Metro : 1998 Veronica Rudge Green
Prize in Urban Design. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Graduate School of
Design, 1999. Print.