Top 10: Dazzling 21st-Century Museums - February 19, 2013
Cité de L'Océan et du Surf
Detail - South Facade
Lobby
models
Scientific American Mind
Scientific American Mind
SF dream and First 3D Sketch - 2005
design sketch before the competition - 2005
SF and SH concept sketch 2005
SW facade
Porch area - 2010
Lobby, exhibition view - rendering 2005
Landscape master plan plaza to ocean
Balloide Photo
At the plaza
At the plaza
Access to main space from lobby
Gallery view 1
Exhibition Design
Exhibition Design
Porch Area - Access to Auditorium
Auditorium Lobby
Auditorium

“When I try to find a connection between my art and my architecture and here specifically with the Cité, I find a search for what is essential, the search for a core element as defining in the work. The two sides of the great curve (The limit in-between – this intersection is the sea’s profundity when it touches the open sky), its dynamics express indispensable qualities of the ocean and the surf.” S.F. 2011

 

Cité de l’Ocean et du Surf  -  Solange Fabião in collaboration with Steven Holl Architects

AWARDS

Cité de l’Ocean et du Surf is named Public Building of the Year by the 2011 Emirates Glass LEAF Awards.

2011 ANNUAL DESIGN REVIEW | Winner - Cité de l’Océan et du Surf | Biarritz, France / Steven Holl Architects in collaboration with Solange Fabião

ArchDaily  Building of the Year Awards 2011 - Museums & Libraries - Winner - Cité de L’Océan et du Surf  | http://www.archdaily.com/building-of-the-year/2011/

 

THE ESSENCE AND THE IN-BETWEEN

ART AND ARCHITECTURE - SOLANGE FABIÃO

 Lecture at the AIA - Center for Architecture NYC, 2012  http://cfa.aiany.org/

New York based Brazilian artist and design architect Solange Fabião will talk about her artistic path from her early work Diagonal System, the TRANSITIO Series, Highlighting the Line to the realization of the Cité de L’Océan et du Surf in Biarritz, France, a collaboration with Steven Holl Architects. The Cité de l’Océan et du Surf was designed to raise awareness of oceanic issues and explore educational and scientific aspects of the surf and sea as well as their role upon our leisure, science, and ecology. It is comprised of a museum building, exhibition areas, and a plaza.

Fabião has been focusing on the integration of the fields of art, architecture and design as well as on the expansion of her perception throughout the various cultures she experienced during her life and career.

Artist and architect Solange Fabião was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

 

SOLANGE FABIÃO

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Lives and works in New York

Artist and design architect Solange Fabião was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Fabião, since a very early age has been committed to the fine arts, considering painting a lifetime activity. At the age of 8, Fabião produced her first set, a large-scale painting of a tree on a black background. Diversity in the creative process and in the forms of expression has been her focal point; Fabião studied architecture, received her BFA in set design. Fabião worked as set designer for the Brazilian Network Rede Globo and designed sets for theater in Rio de Janeiro and in Berlin, Germany. Fabião studied digital media and art history at the HDK and Freie Universität Berlin, arriving in Berlin seven months before the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. In 1994, after experiencing the five initial years of Germany’s Unification, Fabião moved to New York. - http://solangefabiao.com/bio/

CITÉ DE L'OCÉAN ET DU SURF - click at title tab on the right

The Cité de l’Océan et du Surf is a museum that explores both surf and sea and their role upon our leisure, science and ecology.

The building form derives from the spatial concept “under the sky”/“under the sea”. A concave “under the sky” shape forms the character of the main exterior space, the “Place de l’Océan.” The convex structural ceiling forms the “under the sea” exhibition spaces. The building’s spatial qualities are experienced already at the entrance where the lobby and ramps give a broad aerial view of the exhibition areas, as they pass along the dynamic curved surface that is animated by moving image and light.

The museum store is located at the intermediate level of the exhibition spaces, with direct access to the entry lobby and the auditorium. The more intimate restaurant and the elevated outdoor terrace are at the top level of the museum, providing open ocean views.

 

Read Full Text

Solange Fabião in collaboration with Steven Holl Architects
principal architects: Solange Fabião, Steven Holl

The Cité de l’Océan et du Surf is a museum that explores both surf and sea and their role upon our leisure, science and ecology.

The building form derives from the spatial concept “under the sky”/“under the sea”. A concave “under the sky” shape forms the character of the main exterior space, the “Place de l’Océan.” The convex structural ceiling forms the “under the sea” exhibition spaces. The building’s spatial qualities are experienced already at the entrance where the lobby and ramps give a broad aerial view of the exhibition areas, as they pass along the dynamic curved surface that is animated by moving image and light.

The precise integration of concept and topography gives the building a unique profile. Towards the ocean, the concave form of the building plaza is extended through the landscape. With slightly cupped edges, the landscape, a mix of field and local vegetation, is a continuation of the building and will host festivals and daily events that are integrated with the museum facilities.

Two “glass boulders”, which contain the restaurant and the surfer’s kiosk, activate the central outdoor plaza and connect analogically to the two great boulders on the beach in the distance. The glass boulders can be reached through the main entry lobby, which connects the street level to the cafeteria and surfer’s kiosk, and are also accessible independently through the plaza, which serves as a main gathering space open to the public.

The museum store is located at the intermediate level of the exhibition spaces, with direct access to the entry lobby and the auditorium. The more intimate restaurant and the elevated outdoor terrace are at the top level of the museum, providing open ocean views.

At the building’s southwest corner, there is a skate pool dedicated to the surfers’ hangout on the plaza level and an open porch underneath, which connects to the auditorium and exhibition spaces inside the museum. This covered area provides a sheltered space for outdoor interaction, meetings and events.

The exterior of the building is a textured white concrete made of aggregates from the south of France. Materials of the plaza are a progressive variation of Portuguese cobblestones paving with grass and natural vegetation. A combination of insulated glass units with clear and acid-etched layers animates the visual dynamics enhancing interior comfort. The interior of the main space is white plaster and a wooden floor provides under-floor wiring flexibilities. 

 

Photo credits: images 1, 2, 3, 4 - Fernando Guerra - image 5, 13 - Luc Médrinal - images 17, 18, 19, 20 - Iwan Baan

 

Solange Fabião in collaboration with Steven Holl Architects
principal architects: Solange Fabião, Steven Holl

The Cité de l’Océan et du Surf is a museum that explores both surf and sea and their role upon our leisure, science and ecology.

The building form derives from the spatial concept “under the sky”/“under the sea”. A concave “under the sky” shape forms the character of the main exterior space, the “Place de l’Océan.” The convex structural ceiling forms the “under the sea” exhibition spaces. The building’s spatial qualities are experienced already at the entrance where the lobby and ramps give a broad aerial view of the exhibition areas, as they pass along the dynamic curved surface that is animated by moving image and light.

The precise integration of concept and topography gives the building a unique profile. Towards the ocean, the concave form of the building plaza is extended through the landscape. With slightly cupped edges, the landscape, a mix of field and local vegetation, is a continuation of the building and will host festivals and daily events that are integrated with the museum facilities.

Two “glass boulders”, which contain the restaurant and the surfer’s kiosk, activate the central outdoor plaza and connect analogically to the two great boulders on the beach in the distance. The glass boulders can be reached through the main entry lobby, which connects the street level to the cafeteria and surfer’s kiosk, and are also accessible independently through the plaza, which serves as a main gathering space open to the public.

The museum store is located at the intermediate level of the exhibition spaces, with direct access to the entry lobby and the auditorium. The more intimate restaurant and the elevated outdoor terrace are at the top level of the museum, providing open ocean views.

At the building’s southwest corner, there is a skate pool dedicated to the surfers’ hangout on the plaza level and an open porch underneath, which connects to the auditorium and exhibition spaces inside the museum. This covered area provides a sheltered space for outdoor interaction, meetings and events.

The exterior of the building is a textured white concrete made of aggregates from the south of France. Materials of the plaza are a progressive variation of Portuguese cobblestones paving with grass and natural vegetation. A combination of insulated glass units with clear and acid-etched layers animates the visual dynamics enhancing interior comfort. The interior of the main space is white plaster and a wooden floor provides under-floor wiring flexibilities. 

 

Photo credits: images 1, 2, 3, 4 - Fernando Guerra - image 5, 13 - Luc Médrinal - images 17, 18, 19, 20 - Iwan Baan