Bernard Tschumi Architectes (N.Y.

) /
Bernard Tschumi urbanistes Architectes (Paris)
Bernard Tschumis sleek, curvilinear skin heightens the profile of the Vacheron
Constantin HeadQuarters and factory
outside Geneva
By Suzanne Stephens

Turning to architecture to help beef up a

companys corporate identity seems to be an
obvious strategy. You only need to look at
Manhattans Woolworth, Chrysler, and
Seagram Buildings to see how this has
worked smashingly well in the past. But these
are skyscrapers. If the company is moving to
a light industrial zone near Geneva,
Switzerland, it means making an impact with
less height in an amorphous landscape of
highways and factories.

Photo Christian Richters

The Vacheron Constantin Headquarters and Watch Factory at Plan-les-Ouates

demonstrates, nevertheless, that such image enhancement can be done with a showy,
sophisticated finesse. Designed by Bernard Tschumi, a Swiss-born architect with offices in
New York and Paris, the tautly crafted carapace of shiny, perforated steel seems to float
above a town also staked out by Piaget, Rolex, and Patek Philippe.

Vacheron Constantin
Factory and Headquarters
This building serves as the manufacturing and administrative headquarters of
Switzerlands oldest watchmaking company. The concept for this building is based on the
idea of a thin, flexible envelope. The exterior surface is formed from a metallic sheet that
unrolls over the structures geometry, lifting to create a larger multistory portion of the
building. The interior is clad with wood veneer. The resulting space is sleek and precise
outside, warm and inviting inside. The logic of unrolling makes the building appear almost
unenclosed. The envelope opens to welcome workers and visitors, admitting ample direct
light
on
the
north
side
and
filtered
light
on
the
south
side.
In contrast to the wood-and-metal envelope, major movement vectors are made of glass.
For example, in the multistory part of the building, a glass atrium contains several
circulation elements-such as walkways, stairs, and an elevator-all made of glass. The
building rests on an artificial dip in the landscape that houses a naturally lit parking garage.
Above the garage, in the lower, flat section of the envelope, a tranquil, airy patio extends

through the building from east to west. The continuity of the monolithic metal cladding
lends the building a visual and functional coherence, and suggests a fluid relationship
between management, design, and production in the companys operations.
Design Team Partners in charge: Bernard Tschumi, Vronique Descharrires
Project
Architects:
Joel
Rutten,
Alex
Reid
Designers: Matteo Vigano, Cristina Devizzi, Jean-Jacques Hubert, Antoine Santiard,
Yann Brossier, Ludovic Ghirardi, Nicolas Martin, Phu Hoang, Jane Kim, Jonathan Chace,
Adam Dayem, Robert Holton, Valentin Bontjes van Beek, Michaela Metcalfe, Justin
Moore,
Allis
Chee,
Joel
Aviles,
Liz
Kim

Consultants Structural: ARUP (Matt King) and SGI; HVAC: Enerconom; Electrical:
Scherler; Facade: BCS; Landscape: Michel Desvigne; Mechanical: ARUP (Nigel Tonks),
Wood: Dic Dauner; Construction Administration: Ortech; Bidding Documents: EMA,
Geneva

Bernard Tschumi Architects

Bernard Tschumis architecture is not simply about space and form, but also about event,
action, and what happens. This idea, derived from his influential Manhattan Transcripts, a
series of drawings and photographs done in the late 1970s, encapsulates his most recent
body of work. From small residences to urban interventions, Bernard Tschumi Architects is
interested in exploring unlikely confrontations.
Inherent in each of Tschumis projects is a theoretical discourse which often questions
certain building conventions and relationships. For example, in his most recent book,
Event-Cities 3: Concept vs. Context vs. Content, Tschumi discusses the relationship
between context (location) and concept (the overarching idea) and the circumstances
under which one might override the other; and whether concepts precede content or the
programmatic requirements of the building take precedence.
In the sleek factory and headquarters for Vacheron Constantin, the architects concept is
based on the idea of a thin, flexible envelope. The exterior surface is formed from an
immense and pliant metallic sheet which unrolls over the building like a conveyor belt,
connecting the taller administrative tower with the shorter factory. Context and content are
neutral; it is the concept that becomes key. Conversely, the University of Cincinnati
Athletic Center stands as a contextual free-form, using an unusual boomerang shape to
maximize space within the tight site constraints. Other contextual constraints contributing

to the architectural concept include the trusses needed to provide the clear spans, and
which ultimately become a diagonal patterning and the faades mullion structure.
With the Concert Hall in Limoges, France, Tschumi reintroduces the general envelope
concept, but recontextualizes it and offers material substitutions. Limoges is based on his
concert hall in Rouen, France, but instead of concrete, the hall in Limoges uses an exterior
skin of wood because of its location within a large forest. This powerful body of work,
realized over the last several years, gives physical form to an architectural discourse that
has made Tschumi a leading theorist of his generation.

Progetti per le migliori referenze

Vacheron Constantin
Architetti: Bernard Tschumi , New York / Parigi
Vacheron Constantin
10, Chemin du Tourbillon
Plan-les Quates (Ginevra)
Svizzera

Anno di realizzazione:
2004
Arredamento:
open mind

Sedie girevole e per conferenze open mind sono

state collocate ai posti di lavoro per
lamministrazione e nelle sale riunione.
Fotografie: Christian Richters, Mnster

Alla periferia di Ginevra sorto il nuovo edificio di manufazione e amministrazione

del rinomato costruttore svizzero di orologi Vacheron Constantin.
Ledificio progettato da Bernard Tschumi, una costruzione del tutto originale,
comprende nella parte elevata il settore amministrativo dellazienda. Le officine si
trovano nelledifico oblungo a piano terra. Una rete in acciaio inossidabile riveste il
blocco monolitico inondato di luce sul prato verde.