Bernard

Tschumi
LIFE OF - Bernard Tschumi
Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, 1944 and raised in Paris and Lausanne, Switzerland.

He studied in Paris and trained at the Federal institute of Technology in Zurich,

where he received his degree in architecture in 1969.

He taught at: the AA, London, for ten years, and at the Institute for Architecture and
Urban Studies, Princeton University, and Cooper Union.

After winning the international competition for the Parc-de-Ia-Vitlette in Paris in

1983, he formed Bernard Tschumi Architects, with offices in New York and Paris.

He is since 1988 (and presently) dean of Columbia University Graduate School of

Architecture, Planning, and Presentation.

He not only has a residence in both France and NewYork but also runs his practice
from both places, describing this as a "hybrid condition—not quite French, not quite
American."

Tschumi has a wife and two young children.

INFLUENCES - which shaped his life
► # He was exposed to architecture from an early age.
# His father was an architect handling projects to the likes of international
headquarters for such corporations as Nestlé, and also the founder of the School
of Architecture of the Ecole Polytechnique in Lausanne.
# His family's apartment doubled as his father's design office where Tschumi
# Sunday afternoons as a child were spent visiting building sites with his father.

► # Despite this exposure, or perhaps because of it, Tschumi did not plan to
enter the architecture profession—until a trip to the United States at the age of 16
changed his mind.
# During his year as a high school exchange student in Minneapolis and New
York City he made excursions to Chicago, where he was impressed by the
buildings of Louis Sullivan, Henry Richardson, Frank Lloyd Wright and
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
# As he explained in an interview:
"The whole experience of the city was incredibly powerful. I remember being on
top of the Prudential Insurance Building, which was the highest building at the
time, in the middle of a snowstorm. The entire cityscape was a beautiful dark
red. That is the moment when I decided that I didn't want to be a writer or a
 THEORY

'Form follows fiction' is one example of Bernard Tschumi's rules of 'architectonic

notation' that have made him an internationally influential theorist.
He has applied his theories to the problems of cultural and educational institutions, with
his approach evident in his successful proposal for the project that catapulted him to
prominence, the Parc de la Villette in Paris (1998).

Architecture only survives where it negates the form that society expects of it. Where it
negates itself by transgressing the limits that history has set for it.   - Bernard Tschumi

Derrida...asked me why architects should be interested in his work, since, he observed,

"deconstruction is anti-form, anti-hierarchy, anti-structure-the opposite of all that
architecture stands for" "Precisely for this reason," was my response.   -Bernard
Tschumi

Traditionally the purpose of architecture was to create stable, monumental and

permanent spaces predetermined by their functions and ideology of the moment. The
building coincided with the “frozen rituals of occupancy (Tschumi 1996, 19).”
From Pantheon in Rome to imperial boulevards of Paris condition the movement and
spatial experiences of people that enter them.
The decorative elements that enhanced aesthetically the created spaces were attached
"Deconstructionist art stimulates the viewer to take part in the analysis of
the "between' and explores the possibilities of the frame."(Papadakis)
Deconstruction is 'not only the analysis of concepts in their most rigorous
and internalised manner, but also their analysis from without, to question
what these concepts and their history hide,as repression or
dissimulation.'(Tschumi)
The Deconstructor scrutinises the paradoxes of 'parergonal logic'. He or
she detects 'frame slippage': those moments when aspects of the signified
move over to become parts of the signifier, when content fragments into
form; and soon.(John Griffiths)
a specific aim: to prove that it is possible to construct a complex
architectural organization without resorting to traditional rules of
composition, hierarchy and order : constructivism
points lines surfaces
the principle of superimposition of three autonomous systems of points,
lines and surfaces was developed by rejecting the totalizing synthesis of
objective constraints evident in the majority of large-scale projects... the
parc became architecture against itself: a dis-integration.
architectonic and volumetric configurations
the project manipulates numerous elements, from art gallery to a science
museum, from a rock concert hall to performance workshops, which
reciprocate by creatively structuring the whole.
It is an attempt to make planning usefully unplanned. It is a superb example
 AWARDS
Tschumi has garnered numerous awards, among them:

► The Legion d'Honneur (1986)

► The Ordre des Arts et Lettres (1998)

► The French Grand Prix National d'Architecture (1996), (which corresponds

to America's prestigious Pritzker Prize)

► The British Royal Victoria Medal (1994)

► The American Architecture Award (1999)

► The international fellowship of the RIBA (Royal Institute of British architects)

(2005)

and is the recipient of numerous other architectural honors . . . .

 WORKS - Of Bernard Tschumi
1977: > The Screenplays,( theoretical)

1981/82: >The Manhattan Transcripts Manhattan, New York (plan, theoretical)

1982/95:> Parc de la Villette, (international competition)

1986: > New National Theater and Opera House, Tokyo (Competition entry,
second prize)
> Strasbourg County hall, France

1987/89: > Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, New York (Conceptual plan)

1988: > Hotel EuroDisney, Marne-la-Vallee, France (project).

> Interface Flon, Lausanne, - A transportation station and pedestrian
bridge in Lausanne, Master-Plan, competition (2000 --projected).
> Rotterdam railway tunnel, Netherlands.
> Berlin Library (Competition Entry)
> Ponts-Viles, Lausanne, Switzerland.
 > New Kansai International Airport, Osaka, Japan. (Competition entry,
Second prize)

1989: > ZKM - Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany, (Competition
entry, 3rd prize)
> Vieux-Port, Montreal, (Planning study)
> National Library of France, Paris, (Competition entry)
> Steelworks, Volklingen, Germany, (Planning study)

1990: > Kyoto Center and New Railway Station, Japan, (Competition)
> Glass Video Gallery, Groningen, Netherlands.
> ARBED Headquarters, Esch, Luxembourg.

1991: > Villa in Le Hague, Netherlands.

1991/97: > National Studio for the Contemporary Arts, Tourcoing, France,
(International competition, First prize.)

1994: > School of Architecture, Marne-La-Vallée, France (under construction)

> Lerner Student Center, Columbia University, New York
(under construction)
1995: > Master Plan Renault, Paris, (Competition)
> Franklin Furnace Gallery, New York.
> Business Park, Chartres, France (International competition, first
prize)

1997: > Le Fresnoy National Studio for Contemporary Arts.

2000: > Exhibition Park in Zénith, Rouen, France

2001: > Contemporary Art Museum in San Paolo, Brazil.

2001: > Vacheron Constantin (Timely) watch factory, Geneva.

2001: > Museum of African Arts, New York, USA

2002: > New Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece. (Opening late 2006)

2003/06: > Limoges Concert Hall, Rowen, France.

Other works…
A space, 1000 words (theoretical)
THE MANHATTAN TRANSCRIPTS
(1981)
His early work is best summarized by the series 0f drawings that were
published in 1981 as The Manhattan Transcripts.

It is a kind of cross-fertilization between:

figuration

architectural pattern

dramatic event

body movement
The final Outcome continues . . .
This project exposed the particular power of Tschumi’s creativity:
his ability to analyze the motivating forces of a design,
to articulate them as “types” or “actions” or “farms,” and then to reassemble them in a
very clear architectural hierarchy.
He has created a special diagrammatic language system that is instantly recognizable
(though the parts are not repeated from scheme to scheme), and it has been used in the
Parc de Ia Villette, the New National Theater in Tokyo, the Strasbourg County Hall,
Ponts-Villes in lausanne, and the Karlsruhe media center, among other projects.)

Tschumi is influenced by James Joyce and the novel Finnegan Wake in

particular.
the key words highlighted by Tschumi in The Manhattan Transcripts can be
comprehended reverted to Joyce's novel Finnegans Wake or to Joyce's work in
general.
Tschumi selected key words fundamental for his Manhattan
Transcripts are:
violence deconstruction
repetition combination
program articulation
narrative transformation
madness sequence
juxtaposition notation
frame indifference
event reciprocity
distortion relation
disjunction movement
device space
conflict classification
pleasure disjunction
sensation condition
cinema limits
photography definition
reality
The Wake of Architecture –
Four Engravings On De
constructive ism of Bernard
Tschumi in James Joyce’s
Finnegans Wake style, by
Toronto Artist Boris Dimitrov
 Parc de la Villette, in Paris.(1983-90).

The Parc de la Villette was developed as part of an

urban renewal plan on the site the former national
meat market and slaughterhouse.
Tschumi won a competition for the design of Paris’
largest park in 1982.
The project took 12 years to complete, opening in
1998 to great public interest.
The park attracts 10 million visitors a year—"More
than Euro-Disney," Tschumi points out.

This project catalyzed the creation of Bernard

Tschumi Architects and it catapulted him to
prominence.
Tschumi's conception for Parc de la Villette was an
environment celebrating modernity. Twenty-six
buildings—bright red, sculptural and dynamic,
suggestive of Erector sets—are spread over 125
acres; they include covered walkways (one is 3/4 mile
Related to his theories to the problems of cultural and educational
institutions, and the theoretical work on ‘event space’, his proposal for
a distinctly urban park called for the deployment of a number of
abstract, programless structures, dubbed 'follies'. Each follie is based
on a cube and deconstructed, according to rules of transformation
(repetition, distortion, superimposition, interruption and fragmentation),
without any functional considerations . It was intended that the bright
red structures would then house various events and groups related to
the activities of the park. Many do just that, but not all, and not always
the activities envisaged.

The design questions the conventional conception of a park as green

open space. While there is plenty of grass here, the ‘natural’ park is
clearly designed to express the fact that it is artificial, domesticated.
Several thematic gardens are incorporated into the scheme, offering
places of discovery and unexpected encounters and juxtapositions
between seemingly natural and man-made artifacts.
Tschumi laid down three geometries: of points, lines and curves. the
points of the follies, the lines of the paths, and the planes of the sport
areas. This network questions the order that is inherent to
architecture with a superimposition that attempts to bring together
three non-related systems.Clashes were encouraged. The points took
the form of a collection of steel pavillions, inspired by Russian
Constructivist art and painted red. The primary lines are not unlike
traditional French avenues. The most dramatic curved feature is the
Cinematic Promenade. Alongside the Promenade are a number of
themed areas. Alexandre Chemetoff’s Bamboo Garden is an exotic
oasis. There is a Fog Garden (by Alain Pélisier), a Dragon Garden, a
Mirror Garden (by Tschumi), a Wind and Dune Garden
The Site Description
Much like “Seinfeld,” the television show about nothing, the intentional design
of Parc de la Villette was not to be a park in the traditional sense. The
architecture of La Villette aims at meaning nothing and The history of the site
is included by two strong elements.
First, it was the former site of a slaughterhouse that employed more than 3,000
people.
Second, two canals run through the site.The Ourcq canal supplied water to the
city of Paris and the St. Denis canal was used to transport cargo and freight.
The Parc de la Villette includes one of the large slaughterhouse buildings and
both canals.
Because of their inclusion, the humandynamics of these elements were not
lost in the final design of the Parc.
Figure one: Slaughterhouse c.1920
Parc de la Villette’s design is the opposite of the 19th century “park in the city”
that Frederick Law Olmstead championed. Because the residents of a modern
21st century city are different from their 19th century counterparts, their parks
should also be different.
The idea of a city park as a naturalistic representation in the heart of the city
does not necessarily satisfy the various needs of current city dwellers. Parisian
city parks no longer serve as communal areas. Instead, they are used mostly
by children and the elderly, and function as the meeting place the town square
once provided.
Paris is no longer organized around a traditional center but spreads out into
the suburbs, causing the central focus to be diffused.
Parc de la Villette is located on the edge of Paris on 125 acres in the middle of
a semi industrial, working class district that borders on the suburbs. It is
situated in the northeast corner of the city, between two subway stations. The
park is over one kilometer long and seven hundred meters wide, and
encompasses a large Museum of Science and Industry, a
City of Music, a Grande Halle and a hall for rock and roll concerts.
Parc de la Villette’s challenges are twofold.
The first is to decentralize the city and create a second area of focus and activity,
and the second is to supply additional culture to the citizenry of Paris.
The Parc represents a new model for the 21st century city park in which program,
form and ideology come together.
Within the park three simultaneous operations are going on.
The first is a series of events that encourage dreams and fantasies not normally
found in traditional city parks.
The second is a series of places where these fantasies can be played out.
And the third is the suggestion of movement in space by the lines and curves
that are built into the landscape.
Parc de la Villette is thought of by its designer, Bernard Tuschumi, as a work in
progress, an architectonic design that will never be finished. Because it is a living,
breathing reflection of the people who use it, continuous change is fundamental,
and parts of it can be taken down, changed and built again.

The three systems that comprise the Parc consist of a system of surfaces, a
system of lines, and a system of points.
The surfaces of the park host activities that include game playing, exercising,
entertainment, markets and more, and appropriate surfaces are used for each
activity. Remaining surfaces are constructed of compacted earth and gravel
and are more free and varied in form.
The lines of the parc are supplied by a grid of whimsical Folies or “follies,” the
orthogonal system that guides pedestrian movement and the Path of
Thematic Gardens, the path that intersects the coordinate axes and provides
unusual and unexpected encounters with nature.
The north-south axis joins the two subway stations and the east-west axis
joins Paris to the suburbs.
Figure two: three systems
The points are a grid system of Folies placed at 120 meter intervals that
serve as a common denominator to the entire park.
They are 10x10x10 meter cubes that can be changed to accommodate
specific needs. The strict repetition of the Folies creates a recognizable
symbol for the park. Each Folie functions as a marker and a unique space, an
area for experimentation that is linked to a group or event. The Folies replace
static, traditional park monuments and will be future reference points for
emerging social and artistic change in an evolving society. The resulting grid
presents an infinite field of intensities and extensions in and out of the Parc
because there is no center of hierarchy.
Figure three: Foiles

The Parc de la Villette’s conceptual framework allows for multiple combinations and
substitutions within the built space. Something can easily be replaced or revised
without damaging the spirit and identify of the Parc. The organizing structure of the
interchangeability of objects, people and events allows for future artistic expression
without the constraining hierarchies of traditional urban parks.
The city of Paris is composed of objects and spaces, continuity and discontinuity, and
the Parc de le Villette provides a focal point for all types of expression and activity. It
has the regularity of the grid and the flux of French arcades. Casual, directed
movement through the parc can lead one to unexpected smaller spaces. The parc’s
design is based on the disjunctions and dissociations of life in modern Paris, not on
the idealistic notion of bringing natur e to the masses.
The character of the Parc de le Villette is like nothing done before, and it illustrates
the concept that the interaction of thoughts and ideas are what make the design and
function of a space successful, not the objects in the space.
gure one: Slaughterhouse c.1920

Figure three: Foiles Figure two: three systems

Figure four: Plan view
At the end of the 20th century, the condition of architecture and urbanism is
undergoing profound changes that are closely intertwined with the broader
questions of society, its art and its technology- Karlsruhe and its new Centre
for Art and Media Technology ZKM are characteristic of that condition, which
solicits the following four enquiries:
1 How can the boundaries of an historically centralised, preindustrial city
survive their inescapable transformation into a noncentralised, post-industrial
21st century territory: how can limits be turned into lines of exchange?
2 How can institutions dedicated to specialised research and to the
development of ideas simultaneously provide information and excitement to
a larger public: how can the public mediate specialised research?
3 How can one construct a building at a time when the technology of
construction has become less relevant than the construction
of technology?
4 How can architecture, whose historical role was to generate the appearance of
stable images (monuments, order, etc) deal with today’s culture of the
disappearance of unstable images (24 image per second cinema, video and
computer-generated images)?
Our proposal for the new Centre ZKM reflects these four questions through the
projects’ four components: the urban line of
exchange, the linear core, the two compartments and the casing

1the urban line of exchange: we suggest a new linear public passage of intense
interchange and communication as an alternative to the concentric Baroque
Karlsruhe. This line is aimed at providing a new urban system at the historical
edge of the city by turning the old limit into a new line of exchange.
Note: the underground passage through the railway station is animated by
banks of closed-circuit television monitors controlled by zKM

2 the linear core: at the centre of the building, we propose a linear public space
of maximum visibility and excitement. This linear core and its balconies give
access to all parts of the ZKM. Its ground floor serves most performances.
3 The two compartments: on each side of the linear core are located two simple
compartments each with specialised spaces. The compartment on the north side
contains most of the larger spaces such as the media theatre, the Museum of
Contemporary Art and the large studio (Ellipsoid). The compartment on the south side
contains most of the smaller spaces such as laboratories, offices and artists’ studios, as
well as the media gallery. On both sides, the more public spaces are located on the
lower floors and the more specialised spaces on the upper floors.
The functional and constructive systems of the two compartments are kept intentionally
simple: repetitive cells on a regular concrete structure. The building’s simplicity and
sobriety is meant to suggest that at ZKM emphasis is placed on the development of new
media, on the construction of technology (rather than on the technology of construction).
4 The casing: the tight functional structure is enclosed on the south side by an
everchanging, photo-electronic, computer- animated, double-glazed skin that can react
to external light and sound variations. The skin is seen to emerge from a solid. p.o*ctive,
perforated, stainless steel enclosure (north sidel. wit?’ a copper-clad ellipsoid (containing
the multi-purpose studio.
The digitised facade of the casing reminds us mat it. a time, architecture generated the
appearance of stabm it may reveal the transience of unstable images.
 Glass Video Gallery, Groningen, the Netherlands.(1990)

Architect Bernard
Tschumi (1944-)
Construction date1989-
1990
Location Groningen,
Netherlands
Object info Transparent
multi-purpose pavillion
The Glass Video Gallery was commissioned by the city of Groningen, The
Netherlands for viewing pop music videos. Located in a street roundabout,
the gallery has 3.6 by 2.6 by 21.6 meters dimension.
Structurally, the reclined gallery is made entirely of glass plates held by
metallic clips and the floors are metal frames with metallic mesh. Enclosed
within the structure, also made of glass, are six cubicles with monitors for
viewing the videos. The Glass Video Gallery through its transparent structure
extends the street condition into the created space, as well as the formed
space into the street. Video viewing is normally a private activity undertaken
in the living rooms or enclosed black boxes; by removing it from the private
confines Tschumi reverses the accepted notions of public and private
spaces. The images from the monitors are reflected on the glass walls,
beams and roof suggesting an endless space and disrupting the stable
spatial experience. At night the experience takes on an even more dramatic
proportion. The form made entirely of glass loses its materiality and becomes
a simple invisible support for reflections.
What are seen in the night are endless reflections resulting in a spatial
experience triggered and subordinated to the events (video images).
Furthermore the program, a series of images on the screen and their
reflection of glass surface, change constantly depending on how many
monitors are activated and what type of videos are viewed.
The appearance of permanence (ie buildings are solid; they are made of steel,
concrete, bricks, etc) is increasingly challenged by the immaterial representation of
abstract systems (television and electronic images). The invitation extended by the
city of Groningen to design a special environment for viewing pop music video clips
was an opportunity to challenge preconceived ideas about television viewing and
about privacy. Was the video gallery to be a static and enclosed dark box like the
architectural ‘type’ created for cinema; an extended living room with exterior
advertising billboards and neon light; or, rather, a new ‘type’ that brought what was
previously a living room, bar and lounge event into the street in a reversal of
expectations?
We proposed THE GLASS VIDEO GALLERY: a 3.Sm x 2.6m tilted, inclining,
transparent, glass structure. The gallery contains a series of interlocking spaces
defined only by a labyrinth of structural ‘glass fins’ and by the points of metal clip
connections. Isolated in this labyrinth are six banks of video monitors used for
displaying video clips.
Placed inside one tree-lined roundabout in the city, the gallery is to be seen as an
extension of the street condition; except that in these streets borders become
indiscernible, monitors provide unstable facades, glass reflections create mirages
and limitless space is suggested. The gallery and urban space also have the distinct
duality of containing both video objects on display and objects for displaying. They
encompass monitor walls viewed through TV dealership store4ronts on the street,
along with exhibiting events like those in plastic sex-clip galleries of urban red-light
districts.
Now back to my earlier explanation. Decon architecture dabbles with things
that are in between right and wrong. *This often means doing something
unusual and different that challenges what the acceptable norm is.

Bernard Tschumi was commissioned to do this MTV gallery with a limited

budget. It was after all a small project. The primary material chosen was
glass. Actually, it was the ONLY material in this project. Yep... no steel at
all. The columns, beams, etc. were all glass. The panes were held up by
clips. Truely rare. *This is probably a challenge in itself to the 'acceptable
truth' because there hasn't been a project like this in the past in which glass
was the primary material-even used for the structure. Glass is usually
viewed as something fragile and should not be used for a building's
structure, but merely as its skin.
More elaborations later...

Stepping inside, it looks very nice and clean and visitors are able to
conveniently look at MTV videos in the many panels around the building.
GLASS VIDEO GALLERY, GRONINGEN
THE ART INSTALLATION AT THE POMPIDOU CENTRE
For its 35,000 square-toot fifth floor, the Pompidou Centre wanted an original
installation that could accommodate a major exhibition on Art and Advertising (Art
et Publicite’), covering developments extending over the last 100 years, from
Toulouse-Lautrec to Barbara Kruger to Volkswagen video clips.
The combination of extremely heterogeneous materials including, on one hand,
fragile works on paper and, on the other, raucous life-sized neon signs,
suggested two separate parts to the exhibition, the one dedicated to Art and the
other to Advertising. However, we decided against establishing an a priori
architectural distinction that would arbitrarily define two respective roles. We also
felt that these roles were not interchangeable.
Hence we saw our installation as a form of architectural mediation between Art
and Advertising. Our concept for the exhibition had more to do with plans of cities
and with urbanism than with the layout of interior spaces. Our aim was to develop
an autonomous system, which would be independent of both the Pompidou
Centre structure and the programmatic content of the exhibition.
We also wanted to reveal, once again, the grand open space of the original
Beaubourg plan, removing from it the enclosed tooms’ and obstructions that had
been built by curators over successive years. Thus, our project plays on the idea
of endless ‘fluid’ space and on transparency: it is, indeed, rare to have the
opportunity to articulate interior spaces over 100 metres long. The exhibition
concept consists of a cross-like grid, marked by 60 intersecting partitions, each
2.80 metres high (the Beaubourg ceiling height averages 4.5 metres.) In plan,
these partitions read as a series ot crosses, each marking the angle of the spaces
 Le Fresnoy National Studio for the Contemporary Arts,Tourcoing, France
1997

Tschumi was the winner of an

international competition for Le
Fresnoy National Studio for
Contemporary Arts in Tourcoing,
France, a facility whose main
purpose will be to provide
postgraduate film training. This
"school of the 21st century" will
incorporate a building that dates from Right: computer rendering
the beginning of the 19th century, Far Right: interior of the great hall
and the school will contain a
multimedia resource center, two
cinemas, auditorium, photo and
sound studios, a great hall for live
performances and exhibitions,
library, administrative facilities,
restaurant, and workshops for
research and production in sound,
Strategy of the in-between
Ten thousand square meters of an international center for contemporary
arts will be inserted into Le Fresnoy in Tourcoing, France. A school, a
film studio, a médiathéque, spectacle and exhibition halls, two
cinemas, laboratories for research and production (sound, electronic
image, film and video), administrative offices, housing and a
bar/restaurant: this is the multiple and expansive program of the new
center.
Our first preoccupation was the condition of the existing buildings.
Serious doubts about the solidity and waterproofing of the edifices,
specifically walls, timber work and roofs, led us to the following
analysis:
We could either demolish the parts that were most affected by time -
among others, the beautiful vaulted hall to the south of the complex -
and thus lose a large part of the magic of the site; or we could,
faithfully and at great expense, restore all parts that were weakened
or susceptible to further deterioration; or we could radically protect
the most spectacular parts of Fresnoy with a big roof, thus sheltering
them from bad weather while installing all necessary technical
installations (ductwork, airconditioning, stage mechanisms) on the
underside of the roof.
After studying the cost of each of these options, the last solution appeared by far
the most satisfactory, not only from the financial but also from the architectural,
programmatic and technical point of view.
Conceptually, we see the project as a succession of boxes inside a box.
The outer box is the rectangular, ultra-technological solid of modernity, whose
north side is closed. The other sides remain open and provide a view of the old
and new buildings. The upper horizontal surface is a rectangle of approximately
eight by one hundred meters pierced with large openings and containing, in its
structure, all of the technical ductwork for heating, ventilation and airconditioning,
the vertical branches of which extend down into the spaces they serve.
Under the large electronic roof are the boxes of the existing building, most
hereafter sheltered from the bad weather. The only parts demolished were a strip
of the north facade and a structure situated in the southeast corner of the site (old
technical spaces and keepers' quarters) whose ruinous condition did not justify
restoration. We replaced these volumes and developed a new architectural and
functional vocabulary (corrugated steel facades in the north and curtain wall
facades in the south) that permits us, among other things, to give a resolutely
contemporary and transparant image to the entrance area and the main facade of
the building. At the same time, we conceived the new facilities located in the
existing volumes as technically autonomous boxes while maintaining the fluidity of
the Fresnoy spaces.
We then developed the "in-between", the space between the new steel roof and
the old tile roofs. Large horizontal windows, covered with transparant sheets of
glass in a semi-elliptical cut-out, create an underside of the roof flooded with
light and cut through by a transversal corresponding to the project's north-south
axis. A large landscaped terrace in front of the bar/restaurant profits from direct
access, via the grand stair, to the garden.
lf the new roof acts as the project's common denominator (a large screen-
umbrella), we also sought to accelerate the probability of chance-events by
combining diverse elements (umbrella and sewing machine meet on the
dissecting table), juxtaposing great roof, school/research laboratory and the old
Fresnoy, place of spectacle.

Such multifunctional spaces destined to "cover" events (conventions, concerts,

sports, exhibitions and their thousands of visitors) will be the urban spaces of
the twenty-first century, here reviving a building from the beginning of the
twentieth century. At Fresnoy, we can speak of an "architecture-event" rather
than an "architecture-object". The interstitial space between the new and old
roofs becomes a place of fantasies and experiments (filming and other
exploratory works on space and time).
In his architecture, elements are often “cast” across space; the linear
systems help to clearly maintain the identity of the principal zone. We
see this in the Ponts-Villes for Lausanne, where five Tschumi bridges
carry on the dynamic suggested by two existing bridges in the city. In the
Tokyo theater the demarcation 0f zones and carrying strands was
reminiscent 0f the musical stave. The clarity and wit of the scheme was
exemplary, and though it may have been too cool for a Japanese
audience, it remains an abject lesson For students of architectural
planning.
By the time of the ZKM project, a competition for a new media center in
Karlsruhe, Tschumi was able to thrust pieces of “wild” architecture
between pieces of “hard” architecture in a manner that went far beyond
the studiousness of the La ViIlette pavilions. Even in the earlier work,
though, the ease and directness of the objects were proof of Tschumi’s
architectural maturity, especially given the layers of reference and
meaning that inform them.
It was probably this clarity of thought and a seeming inevitability of the
parts, along with an identifiable “game,” that won him the Ia Villette
competition. In the years since then, he has used the opportunity of
building the various follies to move onward, out of an emblematic or
quasi-quotational phase and into a new mode of inventiorc) This new
Another recently completed project (1998), Le Fresnoy National Center for
the Contemporary Arts, in Tourcoing, France, was also the result of a
competition. ("I like competitions," says Tschumi, explaining that in contrast
to the usual long development process, "You can develop an idea, and then
if you win, you do it.") The $25-million, 110,000-square foot school and
center for film, video and electronic art is designed for exhibitions,
screenings and for visiting artists with fellowships to come and produce
work.
Created on the site of a 1920s entertainment complex, Tschumi went to look
at the site and saw "amazing old buildings that had been planned for
demolition." Instead of tearing them down, he decided to protect those that
could be saved by putting a huge roof as an umbrella over the original
structures and mixing them with new buildings. "The spaces between the old
and new roofs are unbelievable," he says. "They surprised us by becoming a
place of activities. Art is exhibited in the spaces, films are made. We built
steps leading to the 'in-between,' which made me think of the Columbia
steps." This theme of the "in-between" or "interstitial" space is a favorite of
Tschumi's.
BRIDGE CITIES: BERNARD TSCHUMI |
 Interface Flon Railway and Bus Station:
"...this station is the beginning of a new
infrastructure network of transportation that
will link Lausanne's center to its suburban
peripheries... Part of a master plan won in
competition in 1988, the project develops from
the distinct hilly topography of Lausanne
where streets appear as if suspended,
buildings seem either buried in the ground or
like vertical passageways, and bridges serve
as multi-storey crossings. One of four
'inhabited bridges' proposed in the master
plan, the interface transport system links four
different parts of the city, while its ramps,
escalators and elevators connect the loewr
levels of the valley... to the upper levels of the
historical city. " ( Tschumi, 2001)
 Alfred Lerner Hall

  Currently under construction is his design, in association with Gruzen

Samton, for Alfred Lerner Hall, a Student Activity Center at Columbia
in New York, which consists of a multipurpose facility with auditorium,
cinema, theater, clubs, meeting rooms, dining facilities, administration,
and radio station.

Internationally renowned architect Bernard Tschumi

makes his American debut with Alfred Lerner Hall,
the $85-million student center on Columbia
University's campus that will open this fall.
It seems therefore fitting that his first building on U.S.
soil should be in his proverbial front yard at
Columbia, where for the last 10 years he has been
dean of what is recognized as one of the top
architecture schools in the world.
The assignment was this: to create a vital center for
student life on Columbia's campus that is both
cutting-edge and respectful of the original 19th
century McKim, Mead and White master plan.
Working in association with Gruzen Samton Architects, Tschumi chose to
reinforce Columbia's classical layout, its spatial and volumetric logic, and even to
use some of the prevalent building materials (granite, brick, copper-like material,
glass). Simultaneously, within this existing framework, Tschumi designed an
interior of innovative spaces: a student "city" in the "city" of Columbia in the city
of New York. He explains: "This double strategy could be summarized as 'a quiet
building on the outside, a stimulating building on the inside'."

Inspired by Low Plaza, a central and beloved campus meeting place in fair
weather, the heart of Lerner Hall is a light-filled glass interior that looks toward
the plaza, both extending the view of the Low steps and reflecting them with a
set of cantilevered ramps. The technology developed to construct its unique
structural system of glass and steel contribute to a space that is both energy-
efficient and visually exciting. Calling it one of the most innovative glass
structures in America of its kind, Tschumi explains that he did not want
conventional columns and mullions to obstruct the openness.
" Columbia is wonderful and adventurous in welcoming building technology that
has never been used in this country before," says Tschumi. "Parts constructed
3,000 miles away are being used for Lerner's glass and ramps—like the Statue
 TIMELY WATCHWORKS (Vacheron Constantin)

If "Swiss clock maker" conjures an image of quaint craftsmanship

conducted in gingerbread workshops, think again. The oldest active
watch making firm in the world, Vacheron Constantin, recently
celebrated the opening of a new headquarters building that looks as
sleek and trim as any 21st-century timekeeping technology.
Located in the Plan-les-Ouates area, in the canton of Geneva,
Switzerland, the facility was designed by Paris-based Bernard Tschumi
Urbanistes Architects, headed by principals Bernard Tschumi and
Véronique Descharrières. The building was specifically crafted to
convey an image of both novelty and continuity with the past. Founded
in 1755, Vacheron Constantin takes pride in its creative design and
technical mastery of research and production.
The new 110,000-square-foot (10,250-square-meter) corporate
headquarters brings administrative and manufacturing functions
together under the same roof. Its curving metallic envelope is glazed on
the north and south faces, providing differing qualities of daylight for
internal functions.
 Swiss-born architect Tschumi explains the form's concept:
"Imagine a fine sheet of metal, its surface worked and open,
elegant and easy to curve. One of its two sides — which will
become the outside surface — is left bare. The other one,
which will be the inner surface, is lined with wood. Imagine a
load-bearing structure that is just as fine, and slightly
asymmetrical, on which the metal sheet will be curled, in
accordance with the geometry of that structure. The resulting
space is smooth and precise on the outside, warm and inviting
on the inside."
The two-part building includes a taller administrative wing and a
lower production facility. The composition is reminiscent of a
classic icon of modern architecture, the Pirelli Building (1969)
by Marcel Breuer. The sweeping envelope gives the new
building a distinctly 21st-century appearance while, like its
predecessor, visually unifying the disparate functions of
management and production.
Inside the building's three-story atrium one enjoys views of translucent
walkways leading to the offices and to a restaurant. This reception hall is a
single but differentiated space offering separate means of access for "VIP"
visitors coming through the main entrance and to employees coming from
the parking area.
The corporate offices are laid out over five floors in this taller portion of the
building. The restaurant and directors' dining room on the building's top floor
enjoy a clear view over the surrounding, formerly agricultural, landscape to
the mountains beyond.
Factory Floor
The long, low part of the building houses production areas on the ground
level and parking below grade. Entry to the basement level parking garage is
via a gently sloping ramp on the north side. Access for deliveries is at the
southwest and northeast corners, serving the factory and restaurant
respectively.
Cut into the middle of the production wing is a patio that also serves as a
light source for the interior spaces. Channels piercing the roof and given
reflective surfaces ensure a high level of indirect daylight. An open plan
based on a 33-foot (10-meter) column grid maximizes glare-free illumination
and the workers' views to the outside. These production and technical
facilities were designed to accommodate the differing needs of high-
precision factory and traditional workshop. Decades from now we will see
whether the building as a whole becomes an architectural "timepiece."  
 West elevation of the West elevation of the Vacheron
Glazed southern facade of the Glass and steel of the Vacheron Constantin Constantin corporate headquarters and
Vacheron Constantin corporate corporate headquarters and factory by Bernard Tschumi Architects
entrance atrium.
headquarters and factory factory

Mirrored skylight wells and Cutaway computer model of atrium.

views to a central patio Architect's concept sketches
enhance light for craftspeople.
 Upper floor plans for administrative wing
Site plan.

North-facing section above; south-facing section below.

the Museum of Modern Art in New York(COMPETITION
PROPOSAL)
On December 8, 1997, the Museum of Modern Art in New York
announced that it had selected Yoshio Taniguchi to design a major
expansion.
Bernard Tschumi's design, shown below, was also more interesting
 than Taniguchi's in its replacement of the Dorset Hotel with a through-
block mid-rise structure with large, billboard-size, angled indentations on
its east and west facades for electronic signage and art, and extensive
skylighting.
Bernard Tschumi's plan called for new through-block wing to
replace the Dorset Hotel
Tschumi's massing was a bit clumsy.  The billboard superstructure
appears in his model as a huge bunker, although the notion of such
large facades for electronic art at the museum is definitely intriguing and
not inappropriate.
THE MUSEUM AT ATHENS (proposed)