Luzern Culture and Congress Centre, Switzerland



Architect
Jean Nouvel
Date Built
Opened 2000
Location
Europaplatz 1, 6005 Luzern
Description
In a document entitled "The Elements of Architecture" displayed on the Jean Nouvel website, Conway Lloyd Morgan
 says of this building that, "... What Nouvel has achieved at Lucerne is a masterpiece of synthesis and expression, responding to the needs of a visually dense site yet creating a wholly contemporary building whose function is clearly readable through its bold subtleties.
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"What Nouvel will have achieved in Lucerne is not only a technical tour de force. He gives each of the elements of the building its own identity within a whole that is both complete in and of itself and integrated into its very special context. In his own words, “the architectural solution has to be harmonious, sensible, intelligent, and inclusive.”



The boldly projecting cantilevered roof seems to float over the construction. The surface of the roof consists of copper sheets, while the bottom is made from 2,000 aluminum plates. In these are reflected the lake along with the patterns of light and shadow in the surroundings.  The glass facade reflects the buildings of the old town.



The building is home to a 1900 seat symphonic hall, a 900 seat multipurpose hall, a 300 seat congress hall, committee rooms, a museum, restaurants, cafeteria, dressing rooms, administrative and service areas.  The centre's website points out that, "... Originally, Jean Nouvel planned to build the new Concert Hall in the form of a ship, heading directly into the lake. This idea could not be realised for urban and ecological reasons. Nouvel revised the project and came to the following conclusion: if I can't go to the water, then the water will come to me. ....



.... Nouvel uses the term ‘inclusion’ to describe his ideas, explaining that the outside comes inside, and the inside goes outside. Using water channels that lead directly into the building, and a roof that extends over the Lake, Nouvel made certain that his notion of Inclusion took on a real-world format."