National Museum of Arts and Crafts
Marseille, France, 2000
Competition Finalist:
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects with Imrey Culbert
Competition for a new museum building and rehabilitation of the Fort St. Jean. The design includes a sweeping public stairway that links the historic fort with the new museum complex. The museum is comprised of three separate volumes, held together visually by a Filligree, or filter, which is the emblematic form visible from the heavily used port of Marseille. The "filter" is made of white bronze, evoking a texture of rippling, moving water. Spaces around the buildings reinforce the idea of multiple paths in the museum experience.
