The societal value of architecture is not just about placemaking or city building, it can also be a powerful social and political symbol. My recent trip to Noumea included a trip to the Tjibaou Cultural Centre, a magnificent building by Italian architect Renzo Piano.
Following the political upheaval in New Caledonia in the 1980s, during which indigenous Kanak leaders struggled for recognition from the French government, it was decided to build a cultural centre. The centre was named after Jean-Marie Tjibaou, the Kanak leader and activist who, during the struggle for independence, had recommended the government build a cultural centre for the local Kanak community.
Piano was one of a number of architects who entered an international competition to design the building, brought down to a shortlist of three. The brief was broad – to be “as Kanak as possible” – and the site flexible – a waterside tropical setting 8 km north east of Noumea’s city centre. In this way, the building, which opened in 1998, serves as a functional space for the Kanak people to gather and celebrate their culture, and as a powerful symbol of restitution by the French government. In addition, it acts as a tourist destination, not least for architectural tourists like myself.
Piano’s response manages to at once reference the Kanak culture, without copying it, in the form of a thoroughly modern building. A series of cocoon-shaped pods ranging from 9 to 28 metres in height are organised into three groupings or villages. Clad in timber and topped with a crown-like, uneven finish, these are dotted through the jungle-like tropical landscape, referencing the traditional weaving and hut-like temporary architecture of the Kanak people. The shape of the pods is designed to admit natural light and breezes while allowing air to escape through a natural chimney effect.
The pods are linked by a one storey building that serves as a corridor and walkway, while external paths lead visitors through the vegetation to views of the water on three sides of the site. Inside, the pods form exhibition spaces, libraries, a cafe and other interior spaces, with Piano using glass at the right moments to allow the cocoon structures to be visible from the interiors. The timber used is Iroko wood which is resistant to termites and hard-wearing.
This is a site-specific and culturally sensitive architectural response, offering a dramatic profile that rises out of the jungle and is highly photogenic. On the day we visited, the Kanak community held a market with food, traditional weaving and music, showing how this building is not just a museum for a historic culture, but a living, breathing site for the celebration of a continuing way of life in New Caledonia.
Read more on the building on the Renzo Piano website here.
