final renderings

site, color diagram, model structure

plan, sections, elevations

#

FUNgiCULTURE is a mushroom growing facility located in the east of France. The architectural ambition is to redefine the relationship between mass and void by means of a contemporary surface language.

The site is located on the countryside, close to the "Les Salines Royales", a salt processing plant. Visitors and workers get to this area mostly by car; they can drive directly onto the site and park underneath the building. For pedestrians a ramp is leading from the street to the outdoor space. The architecture is perceived as an object in the landscape. There is a clear distinction between outside and inside, but the outdoor room creates a different kind of transitional space from the exterior of the object to the interior. In summer it becomes a market place and a meeting spot for the local community. From there visitors already catch glimpses of the central production area before they enter the artificial architectural space.

There are two distinct spatial qualities on the inside; on the one hand the open, colorful space for visitors and workers and on the other hand the cavernous rooms where the fungi are grown.The growing rooms rest on the ground emphasizing their weight, while the inhabited areas are elevated allowing for views and creating the sheltered outdoor space underneath. The exterior is connected to the central inhabitable space through deep cuts that reveal the depth of the massive architecture.

The visitor zone is colored bright red, creating a vivid atmosphere for a cafe and a small shop. The yellow area in the middle is for production and packaging of the harvested mushrooms. Deep openings formed by cuts radically frame the surrounding landscape. In the back the hues turn blue to create a calm environment for research and administration offices. The colors blend into each other, emphasizing the blurred programmatic transitions. The poche spaces contain one main growing room and two smaller ones for testing and experimentation, smaller cavities are used as restrooms and staff changing rooms.

Construction has been tested in a big physical mode - a steel grid holds a thin concrete shell. The interior is covered with polished and painted concrete forms. All the surfaces are developable, resulting in an the extremely simplified formwork.



By reexamining the classic architectural themes of mass to void and interior to exterior relationships, FUNgiCULTURE creates a new kind of atmospheric industrial architecture.

model building

changes after mid term

engage the landscape more (speed of the object translated into landscape)
avoid thin areas where project becomes too surface-like
design of mushroom growing areas.. acces, spatial contrast to main space
structural design
material design- color gradients on interior, metal sheet on exterior, panelization
cuts should be less part of the surface, more like intrusions, disturbances

mass concept

The project is exploring an architecture of the relationship of outside to inside and how depth becomes readable on both sides.
The interior is carved out, the mushroom growing areas are inside the poche.
the exterior and interior are connected through deep cuts,
the heavy areas where thick walls are needed are sitting on the ground emphasizing the weight, while the open areas are lifted above ground to allow for views and create an intimate outdoor space underneath.
The mass on site is formed by view axis and relationships to the street-
drive through mushroom.

sex-tions and mood-els

screen- shooting

model in progress

mass concept

The project is exploring an architecture of the relationship of outside to inside and how depth becomes readable on both sides.
The interior is carved out, the mushroom growing areas are inside the poche.
the exterior and interior are connected through deep cuts,
the heavy areas where thick walls are needed are sitting on the ground emphasizing the weight, while the open areas are lifted above ground to allow for views and create an intimate outdoor space underneath.
The mass on site is formed by view axis and relationships to the street-
drive through mushroom.

3dmodel getting close

new and improved

changes after presentation

central void perspectives most potential-
cuts could also act as space dividers, not just as windows
there should be rooms inside the poche
exterior too complex, should be more performative
either central body or legs should become more defined and important in the massing
program not really worked out yet (office, etc)

interior and site plan

geometry studies

3d model work in progress

plan sketch

mass concept

formal massing study

program sketch

references

interior perception


aesthetic reference


exterior depth cues

massing concept

drive trough mushroom:
most visitors will visit the FUNgiCULTURE by car.
there could be a drive trough track,
a fast shop track
a restaurant decadence track
and a workers track

in the front to draw attention from passing visitors, there is a big translucent mass-
the restaurant/decadence area, serving exclusive slow food meals
behind is a big central volume housing the central circulation space, shop and mushroom exhibition/info area, from which smaller volumes (workers area, growing facilities) protrude.
administration and conference spaces are located above the central void, allowing focused views over the landscape.

the architecture is sculptural, playing with light and mass.
mushroom growing voids are everywhere in the building.

site

The site is in the east of France, the biggest close town is Besancon.
Site area: approximatly 10000m2
The most prominent building in the vicinity is "les salines royales",
a salt processing plant by Nicolas Ledoux.

fungiculture

program (total floor area 2000m2)

growing rooms
finishing kitchen
packaging facility

administration
offices, conference room

support area
locker rooms, mechanical rooms

general access
tasting room
restaurant
shop

mass study final