SPATIAL EXPERIENCE, NARRATIVE & ARCHITECTURE - BYERA HADLEY REPORT 102.0 CASE STUDIES2.3 French Pavilion:'Metropolis' exhibit, Giardini Venice<strong>Architecture</strong> Biennale 2010French Architect Dominique Perault was the curatorof the French Pavilion. His project explored the themeof ‘Metropolis.’ The theme aimed to demonstrate thata metropolis itself is not a city but rather a territorymostly comprised of empty <strong>and</strong> available spaces.Consequently, the perception of these voids as theplaces where all possibilities can still be realizedguided the approach to the subject <strong>and</strong> overalldesign of the pavilion.To illustrate his ideas, Dominique Perrault invitedfive major actors on the French scene: themetropolises of Bordeaux (Housing, Tidal Docks,Transportation…), Lyon (Lyon Confluences <strong>and</strong>district of La Part Dieu…), Marseille (Metropolis inmotion, Parallel routes, Coastal scenery…), <strong>and</strong>Nantes (Territory, Nantes Saint-Nazaire Estuary, Ilede-Nantes,EuroNantes, the Ile-de-Nantes, planningdu Gr<strong>and</strong> Paris. Five experiments, five ways of linkingsolids <strong>and</strong> voids, five proposals for a definition ofthe metropolis no longer conceived of as a physicalmass but rather as a territory.1These Five examples, treated through films<strong>and</strong> projected texts were designed in a highlycinematographic way. Walls of the exhibitionspace were covered from floor to ceiling with filmprojections. The interplay of screens <strong>and</strong> mirrorsexponentially increased images <strong>and</strong> sensations,enhanced by background sounds comprised ofmetropolitan noises. The result was an immersivesensory environment, enabling the viewer to graspthe full scope of the metropolis as an idea, <strong>and</strong> alsoengage with the discourse on an imaginative level:through mental images, sensations <strong>and</strong> concepts. 11I was interested in the method Perrault used topresent information, <strong>and</strong> its effectiveness as acommunication tool. By creating an immersivesensory environment, the viewer was placed in asubjective position to the ideas expressed. TheFrench pavilion presented various levels of visual<strong>and</strong> audio information simultaneously; in the formof photos <strong>and</strong> film footage of the urban l<strong>and</strong>scape,statistical data, mapping, diagrams, soundscapes<strong>and</strong> discourse. This environment made the concepteasy to absorb experientially <strong>and</strong> define one’s own<strong>experience</strong> of the ‘metropolis’. The images showthe various techniques used: Image 1 <strong>and</strong> 3 showthe use of mirrors to reflect similar threads of visualinformation to the viewer from different perspectives.PICTURED‘Metropolis’exhibit, French pavilionGiardini Venice, <strong>Architecture</strong> Biennale20102
SPATIAL EXPERIENCE, NARRATIVE & ARCHITECTURE - BYERA HADLEY REPORT 112.0 CASE STUDIES3PICTURED‘Metropolis’exhibit, French pavilionGiardini Venice, <strong>Architecture</strong> Biennale20104
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