SOLANGE FABIÃO
Cité de L'Océan et du Surf, Biarritz, France
Solange Fabião in collaboration with Steven Holl Architects
principal architects: Solange Fabião, Steven Holl (all rights reserved to SHA)
Opening - 2011
Photos - August 2010
‘This new museum intends to raise awareness of oceanic issues and to explore educational and scientific aspects of the surf and sea and their role upon our leisure, science, and ecology.
The project is comprised of a museum building, exhibition areas, and a plaza, within a larger master plan. The design concept is based on the idea ‘under the sky/ under the sea.’
The building shape is intended to create a central gathering plaza, open to sky and sea, with the horizon in the distance.
This ‘Place de l’Océan’, with its curved under-the-sky shape, forms the character of the main exhibition space, while the convex structural ceiling forms the under-the-sea shape.
Thus, the concept generates a unique profile and form for the building, and through its insertion and efficient site utilization, the project integrates seamlessly into the surrounding landscape.’
