Marseille: The Latest Architecture and News

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In 2020, the French city of Marseille is set to host Manifesta 13, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art. In preparation for the event, MVRDV has collaborated with thinktank The Why Factory (directed by MVRDV co-founder Winy Maas) in unveiling “The Grand Puzzle,” a 1200-page interdisciplinary pre-biennial research study of the urban potential for Marseille.

MVRDV produced the study through deep analyses of the city, such as interviews and spatial data, culminating in suggestions for possible urban interventions. As part of this engagement, the firm worked with The Why Factory, founded as “the think tank on the future city” at Technical University Delft, who collaborated with local architecture and design schools on the study. Having received overwhelmingly positive feedback, the work will now be “contextualized, analyzed, and refined as it becomes a tool for Marseillais to imagine possible futures for their city.” In addition, the study will serve as a point of inspiration for artistic and cultural interventions both before and during the Manifesta biennial.

NP2F, in collaboration with Marion Bernard, Point Supreme and Jacques Lucan, has won the competition for a new institute on Porte d’Aix Plaza in Marseille, France. A combination of research and education at a Mediterranean scale, the Mediterranean Institute of Cities and Territories will link three programmatic volumes: the Atelier Building, the Forum Building and the Experimentation and Research Building. The three forms compound a "progressive system and precise composition" oriented around a Y-shaped courtyard.

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Foster + Partners has won the competition to design a new extension to Marseille Airport that will allow the building to process up to 12 million passengers a year. The 2-phase design will add a new central pavilion to the existing building—which comprises the original 1960s structure designed by Fernand Pouillon, and a 1992 extension by Richard Rogers—and a new pier to provide access to the planes.

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These mesmerizing time-lapse videos by photographer Mayeul Akpovi allow you to see several French cities like never before. Combined with captivating soundtracks, the videos show the architecture of Paris, Marseille and Lyon throughout the day with changing light and varying levels of activity. Above, Part I of Paris in Motion displays shots of clouds moving across the sky, reflections on the Le Grande Louvre, La Grande Arche. Check out the remaining six videos after the break.

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The results of the 2014 European Prize for Urban Public Space have been announced. The prize organized by the Centre of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB) rewards both the designers and the facilitators (such as councils or community groups) that have contributed to the best urban interventions of the year. The award is given for ingenuity and social impact, regardless of the scale of intervention, meaning that small, relatively unknown practices can rub shoulders with some of the best-known practices in Europe.

See the 2 Joint Winners and 4 Special Mentions after the break

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