The competition entry for the Centre Cultural de Blois proposes a Janus-faced configuration: on one side there is a traditional stage with auditorium and foyer, on the opposite side is a pop-concert stage with ramps for more than 2000 spectators. During the cold season, these ramps could be simply covered and insulated. We took on these requirements quite literally and developed the necessary technical installations within an orthogonal steel structure without any formal expression. Using a giant curtain system – similar to a circus tent – the steel structure could be enclosed.
Electronic scrolling displays around the entire building would form a complementary horizontal structure. The vertical curtains and the horizontal words would result in a building envelope that would show itself to the observer in an ever-changing form. This changing face of the building would largely be determined by the words on the scrolling displays, allowing the text of the plays or fragments of the performed songs in the building’s interior to become visible on the exterior.
Herzog & de Meuron, 1991
