Museum Quai Branly
Paris, France
French presidents have a tradition of developing major cultural buildings and institutions as their heritage for the country. Museum Quai Branly, on the south bank of the Seine, close to the Eiffel tower, was initiated by president Jacques Chirac. It is the new base for the museum of primitive arts.
dUCKS contributed to two particular elements of the project: an auditorium and special curtains. The indoor auditorium is in fact a continuation of the outdoor theater space that is created in the garden. At the bottom of the sloped garden, which includes a seating rake, there is a stage with the building as backdrop. Behind the stage is a glass partition wall that can be fully opened to the main foyer space behind.
The indoor theater is situated in a depression of this main foyer. The almost central stage is shared by two very different seating areas. On the urban side, there is a classically sloped seating rake as can be found in many western theaters. The garden side of the stage is embraced by a series of steep steps and risers that appear to be engraved in the upstage wall.
The separation between the theater and its surrounding foyers is made with curtains. These curtains were designed by Naoki Takizawa under the watchful eye of Issey Miyake. They consist of several layers of different types of fabric that achieve a comfortable acoustical separation between the theater and the surrounding foyers. Another curtain flanks the ramp that meanders through the main exposition space.
dUCKS developed the concept of the theater together with the architects, and designed all technical installations (machinery, lighting, audiovisual, infrastructure). We also studied and designed the mechanisms for the special curtains, and assisted in the selection of the fabrics.
