cultural center project

In the middle of May 2011, the city of Arles was supposed to have laid the first stone of an aluminium tour, soon hosting a cultural center.

Maja Hoffmann, who created the Luma foundation - and inherited the Roche Laboratories – had put the Gerhy Partners agency in charge of the architectural project.

Frank Gehry, a Californian architect who designed the famous complicated Guggenheim Bilbao silvery building, drew up a 56-meter high aluminium tour that was going to be built on the Parc des Ateliers site. However, the National commission for historic buildings issued an unfavourable recommendation concerning the planning permission, because the building would be erected on the remains of an ancient cemetery. Besides, the Commission considers that the way the building would stand would damage the quality of the Alyscamps’ site : its height and proximity would obstruct the view on the Saint-Honorat Church.

The city of Arles is now torn between the exciting perspective of the Parc des Ateliers changing into a multicultural center and the fear of losing its name on the UNESCO world heritage.

Maja Hoffmann donated 100 millions euros in order to found a sort of « villa Medicis » in Arles. She is also a sponsor of the New Museum in New York, in Zurich for a Kunsthalle project in a former restaurant and also in Basel as vice-president of the Schaulager institution designed by the architects Herzog and de Meuron, the purpose of which is to collect contemporary works of art.

Eloïse Daniels © modemonline.com