Nîmes, France
Nimes, the center of the Gard region in the south of France, is mostly famous for roman monuments, bullfighting and a textile industry that was once the primary purveyor of denim in the world (originally de Nîmes). Despite its illustrious past and picturesque férias, the Nimes of the 1970s and early 1980s lacked the dynamism of its rapidly expanding neighbor, Montpellier. In 1983, the new Mayor Jean Bousquet decided that change was required if Nimes was to have a future. Grand architectural gestures were high on the political agenda in the France of the 1980’s, and Mayor Bousquet’s effort sparked an ambitious international competition for a new Library and Art Museum on a site facing the iconic Maison carrée, a Roman templewhich is, with Nimes arena, among the most complete Roman buildings still in existence.
The mayor Jean-Paul Fournier – formerly responsible for urbanism in Jean Bousquet’s administration – is trying to sustain his predecessor’s effort with a new series of ambitious architectural projects. Above all was his personal interest is to replace a small obsolete archeological museum no longer capable of fulfilling the needs of a city full of history. Facing competition from surrounding cities like Arles with its Museum of Antiquity completed in 1995, and more recently Narbonne with another Roman museum project, an international competition was announced in August 2011.
The site faces the most symbolic monument of Roman Nîmes – the arena – and is crossed by the ruins and archeological remains of ancient roman fortifications. It is a perfect square in shape, with each side having a strong directional hierarchy: a front towards the Arena and a large open plaza, two sides bordered by narrow roads, and the rear opening to an open space to be used as an archeological garden, and connected to the Arena.
The Museum is designed as the gateway to an urban narrative and promenade, a monumental portal at the beginning of a journey to the Maison Carrée and Nimes’ other Roman treasures. It is the entry to the city’s cultural identity, a symbolic reference to the Empire’s monumental gates, and the 60 arches of the Arena. As a geographical and symbolical center, it is as much a place of convergence as a generator of new paths for discovery. A largely transparent façade displays a contemporary reading of Roman civilization. From the outside, it offers the visibility of the objects and the volumes of the Museum. From the inside, it offers the exposure to the objects and the volume of the arena, in a strong reflective dialogue between two architectures separated by over two thousand years of history.
博物馆在相隔两千多年的两座建筑之间建立了强烈的、反思性的对话。
尼姆市有着独特而丰富的历史遗产。其中包括一些世界上保存最完整的罗马建筑。其中标志性的Maison Carrée是一座保存完好的罗马神庙，其历史可以追溯到公元一世纪。数十年来，在更新城市建筑的同时，保护这一遗产的努力最终导致了一场更换小型、过时的考古博物馆的竞赛。这场竞赛庆祝了它的古老遗产，将这座城市转变为一个卓越的文化目的地。
该博物馆被设计成通往城市长廊的入口，是通往Maison Carrée和该市其他罗马宝藏之旅的起点。作为一个地理和象征中心，它是一个汇聚之地，也是新发现路径的源头。该遗址面向罗马尼姆最具象征意义的纪念碑——竞技场——穿过古罗马防御工事的废墟和考古遗迹。它是一个完美的正方形，每一面都提供了强烈的方向层次：前面朝向竞技场和一个大的开放广场，两侧以狭窄的道路为界，后面打开一个广场，用作考古花园。一个基本透明的立面展示了对罗马文明的当代解读。从外面看，它提供了博物馆的物体和体积的可见性。从内部看，它提供了对物体的接触和竞技场的体积。
