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Home , Jean Nouvel

A study on the Guthrie Theater Guthrie Theater | Jean Nouvel Technical Research Study Conducted by Katie Loechen, Ke Zhoa, and Sara Marquardt Arch 5565 | Fall 2014

BIOGRAPHY was created, JND has developed over 100 design objects and Atliers had designed over 200 projects. The main office is located in , and is one of the largest architectural firms in . Nouvel was born in France in 1948 after the war, and grew up in a mileu of structuralists. he inherited a love of learning and exploration from INFLUENCE | POSITION GLOBALLY his parents, both teachers. At an early age he wanted to be an artist, but his parents insisted he take a more practical path. There an interest in Nouvel has been a key participant in intellectual debates in France since the early part of his career. In 1976, Nouvel architecture was born, originally as a compromise. and Marin Robain cofounded the Mars 1976, a movement aimed at promoting the inhabitants’ participation to the conception of their living environment. Additionally, he founded the French labor union for architects in 1977, called Rendering of National Art Museum of China (2014) After a year of preparation, Nouvel failed the entry exam for the Syndicat de l’Architecture. architecture in . A year later, he retook the test for the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and came in first. His time at the École des Beaux- Nouvel’s first big break into the international architecture community did not come until 1987. In that year, the Arts proved to be a poor fit for Nouvel’s philosophy in architeccture. Institute of the Arab World (IMA) was completed. The building received a lot of press for its technological innovations He openly distains the school for glorifying beautiful drawing of details in aperature-like panels responding to light; it won the Aga Khan Award for architectural excellence in 1989. over research and critique. His thesis prompt was to submit a design for a children’s library; Nouvel turned in a written analysis of drawings that Since 2000, Nouvel has been fortunate to win a string of awards. These include the Golden Lion from the Venice children throughout France had drawn when asked what a library looks Biennale (2000), a from the Royal Institute of British Architects (2001), and the like. His thesis was rejected. When he was asked to study skycraperes (2001), and, most notably, the Pritzker Prize in 2008. of the International Style, he instead researched mobile towers that had been used as attack castles in the Middle Ages. This was, unsurprisingly, TECHNOLOGY also rejected. Rendering and model of Signal Tower (2008) Nouvel is continually looking to develop buildings that are relevant for contemporary society, not nostaligic of their He supplemented his academic studies more historic surroundings. This relevance is often achieved through a high degree of high-end technology that is by working for an archtiectural firm called integrated to his buildings. Each building is specfically generated, so it is difficult to trace his research development Architecture Principe. This firm was formed in terms of technology. As Nouvel stated to Arch Daily, “My interest has always been in an architecture which reflects by modernist architect, and the modernity of our epoch as opposed to the rethinking of historical references. My work deals with what is the urban theorist, Paul Virilio. After a year, happening now—our techniques and materials, what we are capable of doing today.” (3) Parent and Virilio had already designated him as project manager in charge of a large As a whole, Atlier is articulate about bringing art, history, and cultural references into partnership with new building apartment complex. Nouvel admits, “I knew technologies. Digital modeling and BIM softwares are currently utilzied in their practice. Nouvel is attracted to Institute of the Arab World (1987) nothing, and the construction manager conceptualizing an idea first as a pure form then perverting it through reflection, transparency, directed light, understood I knew nothing.” Nevertheless, concealed structural systems, and mirage. Studies by Architecture Principe he learned quickly. Soon, Parent encouraged (1968) Nouvel to go out on his own. His classic building, IMA, is an excellent example to look at in how Nouvel incorporates technology. In IMA, he utilizes an advanced responsive metallic brise soleil on the south façade. The systems uses several hundred light Nouvel had a series of partnerships in the early part of his career. sensitive diaphrams that control the amount of light that enters the building. As the diaphram changes chape, After completing his course at age 25, he soon started working in geometric patter is formed that show off light and voice. This lattice system is both beautiful and functional in being partnership with François Seigneur. Between 1972 and 1984, he had 3 able to mitigate soloar gain. “What I like is the different partnerships with Lezen Gilbert, Jean-François Guyot, and Pierre poétique of the Soria. In 1985, he formed the Jean Nouvel et Associés in 1988 and the JNec. His office current office, Ateliers Jean Nouvel, was formed in 1994 situation. I am a with Michel Pélissié. hedonist, and I want to Then, a year after founding Ateliers, Nouvel founded Jean Nouvel Design as a compliment to the architectural practice already in place at Atlier. give pleasure to other Jean Nouvel Design is a multidisciplinary team that works within furniture people.” design, interior design, scenography, and visual communications. Since it WHAT HAVE THEY BUILT

1987 – Nemausus 1 (Housing, 114 apartments), Nîmes, France 1987 – , Paris, France 1994 – Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain Paris, France 1995 – Euralille, (Retail / Office / Housing), Lille, France 2000 – Culture and Convention Center , Switzerland 2000 – Palais de Justice (), Nantes, France 2001 – Golden Angel (Zlatý Anděl), , Czech Republic 2002 – Monolith of Expo.02, Murten, Switzerland 2003 – Torre Agbar (Office), Barcelona, Spain 2004 – Museum Two, Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea 2005 – Reina Sofía Museum expansion, Madrid, Spain 2006 – Musée du quai Branly, Paris, France 2006 – Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis, MN, USA 2009 – Concert Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark 2010 – 100 Eleventh Avenue, Manhattan, NY, USA. 2010 – Serpentine Gallery temporary pavilion, London 2010 – One New Change, London 2011 – Tower 25 in 2012 – Doha 9 skyscraper, Doha, Qatar 2012 – City Hall, Montpellier

DESIGN PROCESS

“He prefers to dream up his concepts away from the office: either in bed in the mornings or, even better, in the South of France during the summer, when he heads to St. Paul de Vence, a village near Nice, to swim, to incubate his ideas in tranquility and to meet periodically with colleagues or clients who fly down. “He is a really hard worker, but he has a way to organize people with his life,” says his friend Patrick Seguin, who owns a leading Paris gallery of mid-20th-century furniture. “Probably half his business is done around the table. If he works 14 hours a day, it is seven hours at the table.”

“EVERY JEAN NOUVEL BUILDING tells a story. Typically, architects begin the design process with a sketch pad or scale models, but Nouvel starts with an idea he can express in words. “Everyone is a product of his epoch,” he told me recently. “For me, I was born in France after the war; I was in the milieu of Structuralist thinkers. If I don’t have a good analysis of something, I am lost.” Once Nouvel examines his given conditions and decides that the best architectural solution is, say, a skyscraper without visible base and summit, or a mechanized geometric facade that casts filigreed shadows, he can get going. But to this cerebral process he appends a counterweight: the sensuous love of the material components of a building. “What I like is the poétique of the situation,” “ ARCHITECTURAL POSITION OF THE surroundings.... It is responsive to the city FIRM: and the nearby Mississippi River, and yet, it is also an expression of theatricality and Nouvel insists that he is not a designer, the magical world of performance.” (NY but rather, an architect who makes design. Times) Every project is envisioned as a complete design progarm, be it at the scale of a With the Guthrie, Full-storey glazing chair or at the scale of a building. Nouvel of tinted glass is connected by spider- CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE states, “For every challenge posed, I seek connections and stabilized by glass 2003 May: Minnesota legislature approved $25 the ‘elementary’ object whose finished fins. This glass facade is used to create million in state bonding bill “If ever a building deserved to be called sexy-ugly, it’s this one.” form corresponds to an idea. It’s always the illusion of the bridge leading to the a fitting and unique answer that bears Christopher Hawthorne, LA Times 2003 June: Breaking ground sky. witness, culturally and technically, to our times and to our civilization.” (2) Within the design it is clear that Nouvell prioritized the experience PROJECT TEAM Additionally, Nouvel sees everything as of the user. The way a person moves 2003 Oct. Drilling of caissons begins Client: Guthrie Theater theatrical. He worked for a period of time through space and what they see is Architect: Atlier Jean Nouvel as a scenographer, and incorporates this carefully calculated. Nouvel prioritizes Local Architect: Architectural Alliance thinking into his practice. As he stated circulation as well as the structure to in an interview publieshed in , Principal: Tom DeAngelo, FAIA support these spaces and how they “Scenography is the relationship between Project Manager: Bob Zakaras, AIA function. Conversely, through analysis objects and matter that we want to Advisor to Jean Nouvel: Hubert Tonka of mechanical systems, it is clear 2003. Peri formwork installed. UNIPORTAL tables display to somebody who is watching” Project team: that integrating mechanical systems were used on the 1st floor with a 32 ft shoring (CITE). That viewing is based on time and Vincent LaPlante height. They could be assembled on the ground within an early stage of design was movement, and is perceived in sequence. Nathalie Sasso with the posts added underneath. The table To build a building is to predict how not a priority for Nouvel. Many of the Eric Stephanie was suspended from the crane, thereby saving mechanical systems (HVAC, plumbing/ significant labor cost. someone will experience this linkage of Anna Ugolini spaces. bathrooms, and egress stairs) are Damien Faraut placed into the leftover spaces of the Michel Calzada 2004 Sept. Stainless steel cladding begins building. They are not stacked nor Athina Faraut THEORETICAL POSITION OF THE centralized. Edwin Herkens GUTHRIE To Nouvel’s credit, designing a more Julie Fernandez efficient mechanical system would Yann Salmon The Guthrie Theater is positioned as a have most likely impacted the effect Jacques Le Marquet 2004 Sept. Construction of cantilever begins. machine for the senses. It creates a stage of the promenade. Prioritizing the Michel Cova West River Parkway is closed between Sept and for the city to perform on. “At the heart visitor’s experience, Nouvel sacrificed Thanksgiving to allow the cranes General Contractor: McGough of the city, the Guthrie is a machine for greater efficiency in the circulation. Structural Engineer: Ericksen & Roed capturing and radiating the enveloping Design Development and Construction: Bertram Beissel vistas. It condenses the landscape that There are a few areas where Fluid: Michaud & Cooley 2005 Feb. Construction of the skyway connection unfolds around it.”-Jean Nouvel mechanical is integrated, which are Subcontractors: begins shown in diagrams and images later Olympic Wall Systems The cantilever bridge is conceptualized in the report. One example is how the Acounstical consultants: Talaske Group and Kahle as a both a visual and physical plumbing in the center of the building Theater Planners: Fisher Dachs Associateso 2006 June. Guthrie Opens instrument for experimentation with the follows a similar logic as the egress Bald Eagle Erectors landscape. Nouvel states that, “the walk stairs. While many of the mechanical Lighting: L’Observatoire International from the lobby to the balcony opening systems are intentionally inefficient, Field Support: Peri onto the Saint Anthony falls is an event there are specific design moves made Manufacturers: as much as a promenade” (CITE) that intentionally support his program Centria: Metal Panels The Pritzker jury said the Guthrie, “both merges and contrasts with its in a productive manor. One example is placing the production link on the same floor as the stages allows for seamless transportation of set materials.

Additionally, the double layer concrete wall between the stage and the production behind stage serves double duty of both eliminating sound transfer as well as bracing the structure of the steel frame. Other design decisions that reveal his theoretical position include.

TIPPING POINTS

The construction crew was on a tight schedule to complete the building. Olympic had over 80 trades people on the job site during peak construction. To achieve this, there was a large amount of planning that occurred in conjunction with McGough. (4) First floor structural columns.

Within the sketch model, each floor is represented by a single sheet of material. In most places 3’ thick, this is composed of a steel frame with a corrugated metal decking attached on top, and a layer of concrete finish toppping. The vertical walls you see projecting through the floors are composed of a double layer of load bearing concrete walls. These act as a bracing for the structure as well as sound isolation. The second vertical component running through the model are the elevator cores, a secondary bracing element.

The second floor of the thrust theater is raised from the ground by a series Vertical double layer concrete bracing of structural columns. wall. STRUCTURAL

The structure of the Guthrie is in four separate systems, one for each of the theaters and one for the endless bridge. Having the structures be separate allow for each theater to be acoustically isolated and distinct theater types. The systems are loosy tied together for lateral bracing in addition to the concrete members. Steel beams and columns make up grid of the system as represented by lines in the digital model. The planes represent both the concrete topping as well as the vertical load bearing concrete.

Though it is a massive structural feat to construct the Guthrie, Nouvel primarily hides the structure within the envelope. The structure of the cantilever is only revealed in a handful of distinct moments throughout the building. One of these moments is directly underneath the bridge, where the steel is exposed. Lit from below, it can be viewed from the first floor lobby in a glorified state. The view is provocative of the bridge’s strength.

In experience, the endless bridge reverses expectation. On the ground level, the viewer is shocked by the cantilevered mass. However, within the bridge, constructed views and hidden structure work in tandem to produce an illusion of groundedness. The massive truss structure to support the cantilever is hidden, and the visitor is dislocated from the whole of the building as a whole. The feeling of being projected towards the river is lost. CIRCULATION

The over arching path through the building is experienced in an sequence, referring back to the contemporary urban complexity. There are a series of fragmented, repeated experiences in the building. Throughout the path, the visitor is placed within the context of history, seeing herself reflected amongst the imagery of theater days past, then once again displaced through the distortion and fragmentation of the imagery. Full immersion of color produces a hyper-reality, an intensified experience that becomes embedded in the visitor’s experiential memory.

Color is utilized distinctly throughout the path. The visitor passes through thresholds that are marked by the change of color as well as led through the space by it. Different theaters are marked by red, blue, and yellow, both recalling previous colors, as well as marking each place as distinct.

It should be noted that the circulation path is very much not “Sharon’s Rule of Capital Letters”, which states that all circulation should follow the path of a capital letter. Having the path wind and twist in a maze-like manner allows for Nouvel to achieve a level of urban fragmentation within the building. CODE MECHANICAL PLUMBING

Within the HVAC system, multiple systems are used to allow for isolation and control of individual spaces. The Two vertical stacks run different colors in the diagram Fire escapes are through the building. each represent a unique mapped within the All plumbing connects system. Hydroponics are used diagram to the left. into these stacks. to heat and cool the air. The dimensions and material ENVELOPE relationships shown in this detail are and have been exaggerated for clarity. Actual dimensions will vary, and should be carefully coordinated with sequencing and construction tolerances to ensure the long-term durability and performance of this and similar exterior wall details.

Interface conditions between building envelope materials, components and systems should be fully detailed in a manner that is both technically sound and serviceable. Detailing should, at a minimum, allow for coordination of drainage planes when two or more different wall types are used in the same facade; allow for thermal and moisture-induced changes in material properties and differential thermal movement; and allow for in-service deflection, shrinkage, creep and similar behavior considered to be within the allowable structural limits of the project without compromise to the weather-tight integrity and thermal performance of the building envelope.

The air barrier can either be formed by employing the interior side airtight drywall approach or an exterior side air barrier.

The location of or need for a vapor retarder within wall assemblies will vary basedDetail upon climate, andof can beCerntria significantly influenced by the storage capacity andFormawall vapor permeance of the Dimension materials selected for each layer of the wall system.Series A climate-specific, (left) hygrothermal analysis for any wall assembly should be considered to further evaluateand this concern.detail of metal panel See the Generalfitting section of the into WBDG a larger wall for additional information and guidance. structure (right) METAL PANEL THROUGH-WALL FLASHING - OVERALL DETAIL

The company, CENTRIA was chosen as the manufacturer for the Theexterior details, graphics and related information shownSPECIFICATIONS: above are intended to illustrate basic design concepts and principles only and should be considered collectively with the appropriate narrative sections of the Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG). The information contained herein is not intended for actual wall panels. CENTRIA has its own coil coating facility that can createconstruction, short- and is subject to revision based on changes and/or refinements in local, state and national building codes, emerging building envelope technologies, and advancements in the research and understanding of building envelope failure and failure mechanisms. The actual design and configuration of these and similar details will vary based upon applicable local, state and national building code requirements, climatic considerations, and economic constraints run, custom colors, and was able to produce the necessary coloredunique to andeach project. Full compliance with theCerntria manufacturer's recommendations Formawall and recognized industry Dimension standards for each building Series envelope material, 2” & 3” component and system specified for this and similar exterior wall assemblies is recommended, and should be reflected in the appropriate sections of the project textured panels. specifications. Gauge: 20/26 Quantity: 123,600 sf The panels are modular and fit into one another, creating a subtle texture Substrate: Galvanized G90 but monochrommatic appearance from a distance. Texture: Smooth | Smooth Striated Paint Color: Metalic Blue

Spider connections and glass fins are utilized for the curtain wall on the endless bridge. All structural glass in the building was produced by ISG Structural Glass. LIGHTING SYSTEMS

Artifical lights lead you through the space. Both track lighting and single lights in the ceiling are utilized.

Standard Theater Lighting System

Key architectural features are illuminated at night.

Electrical Dimmer Room Lighting System Lighting System Dowling in the Guthrie Backstage Thrust Studio Lighting Utilitarian light sources are used Theater in the backstage and service Artificial lighting is mapped in the parts of the building. diagram above MOMENT OF INTEGRATION: STRUCTURE AND CIRCULATION

Box Truss connects into larger structure Ramp for endless bridge shifts height Elevators located in narrow space between two and holds the endless bridge path within box truss structure structural systems

Throughout the building, structure is embedded and hidden from view and yet allows for distinct circulation moments to happen. The endless bridge is cantilevered to push the circulation path towards the river and away from the building. Addtionally, the ramp on the endless bridge has a steep incline up and subtle decent in experience, though structurally it is a box truss that is not changing its incline. The two escalators travel an astonishing four stories with a full void above, a void possible because of the supporting adjacent structures and the narrow gap between them. MOMENT OF INTEGRATION STRUCTURE AND PLUMBING

Within the building there are few systems that are integrated together. One example where is does follow a similar logic is in the core of the building whre plumbing and vertical circulation work in tandem in a specific locatiom. The orange is circulation related and the blue is plumbing related. At the scale of the building on the far left you see the bathrooms notated in blue stacked on top of one another and the stair to the left both running vertically. In the middle diagram, at the scale of a room, you can see in plan where the air pressurization shaft of the stairs is adjacent to the plumbing shaft between the bathrooms. In the diagram farthest to the right, at the detail level, you see once again the stair air pressurization shaft and the plumbing shaft following a simmilar logic. MOMENT OF INTEGRATION AIR OUTTAKE & ENVELOPE

Detail of Exterior Vents Integrated with Metal Panels

The HVAC Air Outtake is integrated nearly seamlessly with the envelope of the building. Metal vents are interspursed with the metal panels in such a way that they do not immediately draw attention to themselves. The vents are located throughout building, in connection with the separate HVAC systems shown earlier in this report.