Lausanne recieves a three-in-one cultural hub

Lausanne’s Pôle Muséal is a new arts hub set to house three of the city's major cultural institutions

(Image credit: press)

last updated 28 October 2022

Lausanne’s Pôle Muséal (or ‘Museum Centre’) promises an impressive hat-trick for the Swiss city. Not only will it combine three of the city’s major art and design museums in a brand new, single cultural district entitled Plateforme10 (the identity branding for which – by ECAL graduate and graphic designer Régis Tosetti in collaboration with Simon Palmieri – has just been revealed), but the three instituions will also recieve new homes as part of the project.

Located just next to the main train station, on a neglected site at the city’s heart, Plateforme10 promises to be a central attraction for Lausanne. Its key aspect, explain the organisers, is 'an open terrace, an esplanade revealing the scope of the emerging district devoted to the fine arts, design and photography'.

In the meantime, Spanish/Italian architects Barozzi/Veiga have been hard at work on a design for the Musée Cantonal des Beux-Arts building. The architects hope their design will help define the urban area around it, bringing it back to life, using the backdrop of the museum’s monolithic structure.

At the same time, their Portuguese colleagues Aires Mateus have been developing a nearby, separate structure that will co-house the Musée de l'Elysée photography museum and the Museum of Contemporary Design and Applied Arts. The two uses will sit together harmoniously, creating a coherent experience for the visitor. The structure is perceived from the exterior as a simple volume defined by the way lighting it used on its façade.

Both architects won their respective commissions through international competitions and were praised for their strength, clarity and simplicity. A new urban plaza will visually and spatially unite the three new museums, also helping to revitalise the old railway site.

The large-scale scheme, which spans an impressive 22,000 sq m, is expected to complete around 2020.

The new cultural district also has a new name: Plateforme10. Its recently revealed branding identity has been designed by Régis Tosetti in collaboration with Simon Palmieri

Barcelona-based architects Barozzi/Veiga have been hard at work on a design for the Musée Cantonal des Beux-Arts

The architects hope their design will help define the urban area around it, bringing it back to life, using the backdrop of the museum’s monolithic structure

Located just next to the main train station, in a neglected site in the city’s heart, Plateforme10 promises to be a central attraction for Lausanne

Portuguese firm Aires Mateus have been developing a separate structure nearby that will co-house the Musée de l'Elysée photography museum and the Museum of Contemporary Design and Applied Arts

A new urban plaza unfolding around the two buildings will help unite them visually and spatially

The large-scale scheme spans 22,000 sq m and should be complete by 2020

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Aires Mateus website and the Barozzi/Veiga website

TOPICS

Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).

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