The New Theatre of Cachan - France

Vincent Baur, Guillaume Colboc, Gaël Le Nouëne - Ateliers O-S architectes

Biography: Ateliers O-S architectes Vincent Baur + Guillaume Colboc + Gaël Le Nouëne

Partners since 2002, they are involved in many international competitions where their projects are regularly remarked, “O-S refers to many wordplay, in particular Open Source and Operating System, concept that synthesizes ideas of open-mindedness and production required for developing a project. With this name we stand out the idea of an open team, where dialog and self expression is fundamental. For us, the amalgam of ideas and proposals is a way to support the project, to transform it and also to uncover the nature of each situation.

The New Theatre of Cachan

The New Theatre of Cachan will transform the surroundings not only in terms of urban impact, but also in terms of cultural and social development.The building appears first as a simple parallelepiped volume, composed by two layers. A low glass line separating the project from the ground reveals the inner volume.A high mineral volume covers the glass line, and  as a stage curtain it envelops the theatre and lighten the whole volume.Measured by a set of transparency, the new equipment is a showcase of the city and the countryside to see from outside its domestic activity but also to frame as a window into the city.The concrete structure is covered with terra-cotta apparatus, a material with many possibilities and assembly as an urban continuity present in the historical center of Cachan.The new facade surrounds the theater restructured as a curtain providing architectural coherence and a new image to the theater. A double image of both contemporary and traditional.