Turbulences

A tubular structure enclosed in an interactive veil of light is the most exciting element of Turbulences, part of a new home for an arts center in Orléans largely created from existing buildings.

When architect Jakob + MacFarlane won the competition to renovate and extend the FRAC center in Orléans to create a new art and cultural center for young creators, they opted for a strong physical presence with the introduction of an urban signal. Working with the artist group Electronic Shadow, the team came up with a project that not only renovated the existing building but also introduced a prefabricated tubular structure to the former military site to act as a marker.

Called Turbulences, it is based on the parametric deformation and the extrusion of the grids of the existing buildings. A tubular structure supports exterior covering panels of aluminum, either solid or perforated, and interior panels of wood. The lower parts are clad with prefabricated concrete panels, providing continuity with the courtyard.

The part of the Turbulences giving onto the Boulevard is covered with several hundred nodes, creating a media façade. Using the construction lines of the building, the points of light become denser, passing from point to line, line to surface, surface to volume, and volume to image.

This interactive skin can use environmental data such as daylight, wind, as well as animated image scenarios devised by the artists.

Electronic Shadow used Color Kinetics iColor Flex LMX gen2 (now specified with Flex Compact gen3, RGB) LED strings and a video system manager (VSM) necessary to map the installation. Each Flex strand consists of 50 individually addressable LED nodes, featuring dynamic integration of power, communication, and control. The flexible form of the strings accommodates two- and three-dimensional configurations.