The Courrouze pavilion is the last vestige of the site’s military-industrial past, located in the heart of the district of Courrouze in Rennes. Its strategic urban location, at the articulation of the arrival of the metro and bordered by a park to the north, makes it a key beacon – landmark during the day, and a lantern at night.
The project reveals a unique small-scale construction, a long concrete tunnel without openings, whose thick walls used to protect the outside world of this supposed firing chamber. Therefore, the first intention was to preserve this strange construction by proposing a simple and sober project, valuing its transformation in an atypical and multiple place, urban landmark in the heart of its district.
The destination, defined as ephemeral and transitory, is a welcoming living space for locals and neighbors, an exhibition gallery, an event venue, or a meeting place. The project saw the creation of a monolithic black metal extension, simple and raw, encasing the space. The extension provides a lobby, the servants and technical quarters, and a mezzanine for meetings, providing stunning views of the vault of the hall. The hall itself hosts an exhibition space. Left raw, its cut end creates a large window overlooking the city. Its vault, in plain sight, tells a story written in collaboration with visual artist WAR!
What is this pavilion? Pre-historic works were discovered during the renovation of this concrete cavern adorned with a bestiary of more than 80 animals running on the walls and the vault. Humpback whales, elephants, giant squid, ermines, deer, royal cranes, rhinos, foxes, all come to life as natural light filters in. The pavilion tells the artistic and cultural memory of these urban wastelands, disappearing little by little during the urban renewals.