RenzoPiano

NewCaledonia

ByDeshonaNelson

SiteLocation
Nouma,NewCaledonia

TjibaouCulturalCenter

RenzoPiano,winnerofthePritzkerPrizeforArchitecture TheRenzoPianoWorkshopwonaninternationalcompetitiontodesign th Tjibaou the Tjib C Cultural lt lC Center t i inN Noumea,aP Pacific ifi Island I l dt territory it i inN New Caledonia. NewCaledoniawasfoundedbytheFrenchgovernment.TheFrench governmentwanted dtob build ldacenterinthis h Pacific f Island l dcolony l to honorthecultureoftheKanakpeoples. ThecenterwasnameafterinJeanMarieTjibaou,animportantpolitical leaderinNewCaledoniawhowasassassinatedin1989. Thecenterwasbeingconstructedform1991to1998. TjibaouCulturalCentreinNouma,NewCaledonia.RenzoPiano, PritzkerPrizewinningarchitect.1998 ThelocationofcenterisinOceanic Oceanic,NewCaledoniathathasasemi tropicalclimate.Itsrelativelywarmthroughouttheyear,withaverage temperatureof2527degreescelsiusfromSeptembertoMarchand 2023degreescelsiusfromApriltoAugust.

BuildingEnvelope

Thearchitecturalcomplexisformedofhutsofdifferent sizes. Tenconeshapedwoodenhutsgroupedamongthepine trees. ThehutsareturntowardsthebayofNoumeaand connectedbyapedestrianpath. Theinterpretationofthisculturalcenterisonthelocal constructionalprocedureswithcarefulanalysisofthe habitsandcustomsoftheindigenouspopulation. Pi Piano,project j treflected fl t dthe th idea id of fplace, l using i symbolic/formaltermsasintheuseofmaterials.

VisualPerformance
RenzoPianositeplan,

hispartiandaview fromwithinthecity. city

BuildingSystems
Thecenterwasdividedintothree monothematiczones. Theexhibitarea:housingpermanentcollection ontheculture,history,andworksofart. Thefunctionsofthecenter(exhibitionspaces, multimedialibrary,cafeteria,conferenceand lecturerooms). Therearelouverbelowtheroofarefixedopen tomaintainabalanceofpressureinsideandout. Thelouverspreventtohewindsfromliftingthe roof.Thelouverswerealsousedasshading devices.

SpatialPerformance

Coveredwalkway,green,andoutdoorarea.Thesunlightenfiladesthestructure,castinga continually i ll changing h i patternof fshadows h d through h hthe h louvers l and dmembers b of fthe h the h slaves. l

InteriorSpace
TheGreatHousesarelinkedbyalong,gently curvingenclosedwalkway,reminiscentofthe ceremonialalleyofthetraditionalKanak village. The Th identity id i of fthe h Kanak K kis i notonly l reinforcedthroughtheformofthebuilding butalsothroughitsrelationshipwiththe naturallandscape. p

InteriorLighting

StructuralDetails

H i Hurricanes areath threat, t t twoskins ki wereused dto t maximize i i structural t t lstability. t bilit

BuildingSection

BuildingIntegrity
Thesespacesarelinkedtogetherwithpathandpassages,shadedandprotected

withoverhangsandvegetation. OntheNorthsidethereslowstructurescontainingoffices,libraries,mediaroom, andmoreexhibitionspaces. Floor Plan

Illumination
Thecurvedwallsconsistofthreedifferent di h diaphragms allowing ll i adequate d natural lillumination ill i i : asystemofmovablecurtains,awalloflaminated woodandanadditionalbamboo wallfilterthelight andthesoundsofthetropicalforestbyletting nature t "sing. "i The big shells trapping the wind obtain natural ventilation from the environment by channeling air i i in th the l lower part t of f th the construction t ti and db by blowing warm air outwards through a convection system. The Th performances f of fth theshells h ll h haveb beenalso l studiedwitheverykindsofwindinordertoanalyze thenaturalventilationineachclimaticconditions.

RoofDetail

Paniodesignisthedoubleroofsystem,main purposeis i todrain d i the h gutters.He H uses aluminumsheeting, whichextendsoutthe buildingtoshadetheoutsidewalls.Ifthe roofcomposedwithmetal,itispracticalfor radiant di tcooling li asitconducts d t h heat tquickly i kl and d emittingenergy.

Roof as shading

BuildingPerformance
Thetallwoodenstructuresthat RenzoPianodesignedareboth traditionalandcontemporary. Adjustableskylightsonthe roofsallowfornaturalclimate control andthesoothingsounds ofPacificbreezes. Thecostoftheculturalcenter was320million Theculturalcenteroccupies p 8000squaremeters

Reference

http://architecture.about.com/od/findphotos/ig/RenzoPianoPhotos/TjibaouCulturalCentre.htm http://www.architecturelist.com/2008/10/14/jmtjibaouculturalcenternumea/ http://www.nashersculpturecenter.org/BuildingandGarden/RenzoPiano http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/tjibaou/index.htm http://www.dailyicon.net/2009/03/icontjibaoucentreculturalbyrenzopiano/ http://www4.architektur.tudarmstadt.de/powerhouse/db/248,filter_j,s_Projects.fb15 http://capd.ksu.edu/newsarticle/285/architecturalskins EbookCenterCulturelTjibaooj,byBerniceMurphy RenzoPianobyMatteoAgnoletto