It's a double-win for Studio Daniel Libeskind, who was recently selected to design two mixed-use projects in France: the Occitanie Tower in Toulouse and the East Thiers Train Station in Nice. The projects unveil a new development strategy for both cities that was set forth by commercial real estate firm Compagnie de Phalsbourg.
As Toulouse's first skyscraper, the Occitanie Tower will take over the former site of the Gare Matabiau postal sorting center in the city's evolving business district. The “curvaceous” tower will be a 150-meter-tall glass structure wrapped in a spiraling “ribbon” of vertical gardens (designed by landscape architect Nicolas Gilsoul) that will start from street level up to the 40th floor — a reference to the Canal du Midi that winds through the city, according to the architects.
Occitanie Tower, Toulouse. Rendering by MORPH.
Occitanie Tower, Toulouse. Rendering by LUXIGON.
The scheme includes 11,000 square meters of office space, a Hilton hotel, 120 apartment units, a restaurant with panoramic views, and retail space. Libeskind will work with local architect Francis Cardete on the tower, which is currently scheduled to start construction in 2018 and will be completed in 2022.
In Nice, Libeskind collaborated with Fevrier Carre Architectes and landscape architect Jean Mus to design the new East Thiers Train Station (Gare Thiers-Est) as part of a major redevelopment. The project will add new pedestrian pathways between the station and the street.
East Thiers Train Station, Nice. Courtesy of Studio Libeskind.
As Libeskind's buildings tend to look, the station's design features angular forms — which were inspired by the mineral azurite — and will have peaks up to 40 meters tall to conceal the train tracks. “My aim was to create a building that is seen from all angles — that will become the connective tissue between two sectors and reconnect the neighborhoods,” Daniel Libeskind said in a statement.
Once the train station is completed in late 2019, it'll also boast a Hilton hotel, a 600-seat auditorium, coworking spaces, terraced cafes, and 18,300 square-meters of high-end commercial space. Construction is expected to start later this year.
Last year, Libeskind won the competition for another mixed use complex in Vilnius, Lithuania.
4 Comments
Has Libeskind ever done a building that could be described as "curvaceous"? I am trying to think of one.
There's the Vanke Pavilion he did for Expo Milan and a couple of twisted canopy structures that Siemens commissioned. He also did a bunch of projects with random curvy megaform elements. These projects just seem to extend the forgetably wacky commercial collage trajectory that this office has been on for the last 15 years.
That aerial render of the trainstation in the urban fabric really does not look like the building is connected to the surrounding neighborhoods in any but the most literal of ways.
Both projects are out of character with the setting and context. These do not represent design; both are no more than the hideous manifestations of one blustering man's out-of-control ego. I am disappointed to see Archinect promoting such obviously bad projects.
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