Cultural Center in St.

Germain
 •Architects: Ateliers O-S architectes
•Area: 2173.0 m²
•Year: 2014
•photographs: Cyrille Weiner

• This cultural center will

replace the current school
of music & dance and the
current public library which
are located in a small and
malfunctioning existing
building.
• The site chosen by the city is
a long and narrow strap plot
which fits in a larger scale
between Chanteloup park
overlooking the West and
Orge Valley in low-cons in
the East. The plot is steep
and looks down to the valley.
It’s framed by Rolland Garros
High School on a side and by
• URBAN PLANNING
The Project main access is located by Leuville road,
at the top of the site. A new path, created along
the school to connect the main road to the path
Chemin du Roy, distributes an eventual project of
nursery which could take place at the bottom of
the site.
• he project is playing with the natural slope of the
site (almost 3 different levels) by moving towards,
like a straight line drawn in the landscape.

• Set back from the cemetery by a landscaped strip

and from the school by the new road, the public
building is holding onto the site via two compelling
levels of the project: a mineral square on the top
(Leuville Road), a vegetal square on the lower level
(at the heart of the plot).

• Both squares are connected through the building

by a public passage. The project stands between a
deliberately low high building towards the
landscape and strong urban landmark. In order to
respect the cemetery, the new cultural is taking
the best of the untypical topography to remain
discreet.
• ORGANISATION IN PLANS

The program is organized as a continuous loop, joining the top square to the bottom square.

• The structural programmatic entities of the cultural center are the library, the school of music
& dance and a centralized lobby (including animation spaces, auditorium, expectations and
exhibition spaces) from where the whole building and the administration are vertically
distributed.
• At the Leuville Road, the project is approaching the ground to emerge from it down below the
slope. The equipment clearly appears from the road Leuville, thus affirming this main access
with a mineral and generous square.

• The public entrance of the cultural center opens between the two branches of the equipment
as a welcoming hand to guide you through the building.

• The media library and the lobby are located at higher level. This is the heart of the project,
this is where visitors find information. The library is organized as a L-plan on a large open
reading spaces structured by colored furniture. The library is widely opened towards the Orge
Valley. On the lower level, the music & dance school, administrative offices, and lecture
studios are located on the north side, while the two main rooms offers generous views to
enjoy the landscape of the valley. Technical premises and bicycles parking are provided at the
lower public square.
• SECTION
At the lower square, the building is dug in to leave the upper part of the building in levitation.
The library emerges and raise thank to an impressive pre-stressed concrete beam which is set
against a massive buried volume to balance the composition.

• ELEVATIONS
The west and east facades are offered one to the city and the other one at the valley Orge.

• The West facade is a signal for the higher square. The East facade frames the landscape and
dominates the lower square searching of the horizon. By a measured set of transparency, the new
public building is a showcase about the city and the landscape allowing us firstly to see from
outside its cultural activities and mostly to frame the landscape of the valley.
• The design of the wall- panels, based on a meticulous framework gradually alternating with
different shaded of glazed- panels and printed-panels, gives rhythm to the façade of the public
building. Solid wall-panels are made of extruded aluminum measured elements to create a
random feeling and hide all mechanical fixations.

• The roof is vegetated to increase significantly the inertia of the building and to preserve a
pleasant views over the surrounding buildings.
https://www.dezeen.com/2015/02/18/ateliers-o-s-cultural-cent
er-media-library-music-dance-school-paris-gold/

For plan, sections and gallery with details

BHARAT BHAVAN CULTURAL CENTRE BHOPAL
• In the late 1970s, the Government of India launched an initiative to build in every state
capital an institution to celebrate the cultural and creative output of the nation. Although
the scheme was largely unsuccessful, one shining example remains: Bharat
Bhavan(‘India House’), located in Bhopal.

• Designed by Indian architectural luminary Charles Correa, this multi-arts center first

opened its doors in 1982. More than thirty years later, it continues to house a variety of
cultural facilities and play host to multitude of arts events.

• The design of the complex is a product of Correa’s mission to establish a modern

architectural style specific to India and distinct from European Modernism.

• Drawing on the plentiful source material provided by the rich architectural heritage of his
home country, at Bharat Bhavan Correa produced a building for the modern era which
manages to also remain firmly rooted in the vernacular traditions of India’s past.
• built into a hillside which slopes down
toward a lake, a series of terraces
and courtyards comprise the
complex. upon entering, the visitor
has the choice of following the path
of terraces cascading down to the
lake, or descending to the three
courtyards which provide access to
the majority of the cultural facilities.

• these include contemporary art

galleries, a museum of tribal art, an
auditorium, a library of indian poetry,
a print shop, and a studio for an
artist-in-residence. from the
courtyards, wide glass-paneled
openings to the buildings ensure the
arts program is both literally and
figuratively accessible to all. at the
bottom of the site sits an
amphitheater, where open-air
performances take place with the lake
forming a natural backdrop.
• Correa was somewhat wary of this trend, and criticized Le Corbusier’s Palace of the Assembly at
Chandigarh for being poorly ventilated, insufficiently lit, and wholly unsuitable for India’s hot and
humid climate.

• Correa’s architecture, conversely, is shaped by its environment, with climate control a primary
concern in his design process.

• Indeed, this was often a necessity, as much of his early work consisted of projects for squatter
housing, where inhabitants did not have the means to pay for air-conditioning and were forced to
rely on the building itself to regulate temperature.

• at bharat bhavan, the intention is that those emerging from the galleries to the courtyards
undergo a similarly dramatic spatial experience.

• the sky is even incorporated into the interior spaces of the site, with concrete ‘shells’ atop
the structure allowing light and air to pour in through their circular openings. from the
exterior, these shells seem to reinterpret another feature of india’s architectural
vocabulary: the decorative chattris (‘umbrellas’) which originally sat atop rajasthani
palaces.
• Bharat bhavan is uniquely design with the combination of simple and interesting shapes.
• The auditorium has unique design made up of R.C.C. shell which has a skylight on the top of it providing natural
lighting.
 
Requirements of Bharat bhavan:
 
1. Permanent museum, 2. Green room
3. Open air amphitheatre 4. Indoor theatre
5. Restaurant 6. Auditorium
7. Store 8. Workshop
9. Special exhibition area 10. Office
11. Library 12. Workshop studio
13. Toilet 14. Ticket counter
 
Circulation:
• Free flow circulation was
provided to avoid
accumulation at a certain
point.
•No such pattern or way
defined to keep people
moving in a certain
pattern.
•Open to sky courtyards
were provided to keep also
people involved in outer
part of the building.
•Open air amphitheatre
was also made to utilise
the natural view of
adjacent lake.
 Building materials:
Red sand stone was used on the outer façade of the building.
•Flemish bond brick masonry.
•R.C.C. shells were used in the auditorium.
•Ashlar stone masonry was used on the outer façade.

Display:
• Paintings were hung on the walls of
the building.
•Separate walls were also made for
displaying pictures.
•Each painting has its own light for
illumination.
•Sculptures were placed over the
wooden blocks painted in white colour.
•No outer display was made.
Landscaping:
• Best part about the Bharat bhavan was its landscaping.
Roofs of all the buildings were covered through grass making the view beautiful as well
as keeping the building cooler. Open to sky courtyards were made to manage crowd

• Lake adjacent to the Bharat bhavan was also incorporated into the design.
 Structure:
Site of the Bharat bhavan is located on the small plateau region.
• Retaining walls were made to avoid the landslide.
•Coffered slabs were made to avoid the columns.
• Outer façade stone walls were 380 mm wide.
•Slopes were made for easy passage for handicapped.
•Inner walls were 340 mm wide plastered on both of the sides.
• Flower beds were made on the roofs of the buildings.
•Visitor enter at the highest level and walk down to a
Pedestrian spine flanked by a pattern of courtyards.
• Each of the part of the building is distinct yet flows easily
One another
Centro Cultural Arauco
•Architects: elton_léniz
•Area: 1400.0m²
•Year: 2016
• The program, the capacity of the different
spaces and the operation of the Cultural Center
arises from the active participation of the
community through its different cultural agents,
they were our true clients.
• The CCA is conceived as a meeting place,
participation and expression of all cultural and
artistic manifestations. In the urban fabric, the
building behaves as part of the public space and
consolidates an iconic corner of the city in a way
that is permeable to pedestrians and visitors.
The proposed design is summarized in three
operations;
• -1 It was decided that all massive and public
activities would take place on the first level,
that of the street. The Theater, the
cafeteria, the store, the exhibition foyer and
the multipurpose rooms are connected to
the public space and open onto the covered
patio. 

• Simultaneity, activity, exchange,

coexistence, are characteristics in the use of
this level and give the Cultural Center a
public character.
As a security measure due to the
earthquake and subsequent tsunami, the
first floor was designed in reinforced
concrete. The Theater, multipurpose rooms
• -2 The Library, administration and services are located on the
second quietest and most controlled level.
The Library space runs almost the entire perimeter of the second
level and builds both corner fronts. A skin based on broken
laminated wood views filters the setting sun and directs the
views towards Cerro Colo Colo, a sacred place for the Mapuches.
This second level is raised on the sidewalk, frees the passage
through the interior of the Cultural Center and covers a large
area of ​this public space.
This operation gives a certain lightness to the building, welcomes
the natural circulation of pedestrians and invites you to enter.
• -3 The arrangement of the volumes creates a void at the center of the site, an interior plaza, a
foyer of the Cultural Center, an articulating space for the entire program. By roofing this exterior
space through a roof supported by a laminated wood structure, the original CCA program was
multiplied. This is another flexible space in use with capacity for large public events, or simply a
place to be, read, have a coffee or meet a friend.
First level

The Theater, the cafeteria, the store, the

exhibition foyer and the multipurpose rooms
 Second level

The Library, administration and services 

sections
 Video for interiors

https://vimeo.com/243844271

• These projects helped to understand the

1. functions of spaces
2. material used
3. context
4. design principles (like courtyards,common spaces,green spaces,openings)
5. blend with context
6. Response to climate and context
7. Organization of plans
8. Activities