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The Jean Nouvel-designed La Marseillaise has been completed, decorating the skyline of Marseille, France with 27 shades of red, white, and blue concrete. Standing at 135 meters, the 31-story office tower contains a business restaurant, nursery, and retail.
The scheme sits in proximity to the CMA CGM Headquarters, which was the first Zaha Hadid Architects-designed tower to be built.
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While constructed from concrete, La Marseillaise is “dis-armored” through a light, fiber material reminiscent of an unfinished architectural sketch. The shades of blue, white, and red represent components of Marseille; namely the city sky, rooftop blends, and the rock of Massif des Calanques.
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Lights and colors interact and if ʺThe Marseillaiseʺ is only too happy to be red-white-and-blue, she will swap France blue for sky blue, royal white for the impure white of the horizon or the odd cloud, blood red for the ochre reds and brick reds of the surrounding roofs and walls. Seen from the outside, she hopes to stamp her lines on the Marseilles sky, mix up transparencies and reflections, occupy this piece of the sky criss-crossed with a few pale shadows and pearly lights, with trees and characters that we’re never sure really exist since they’re up there in heaven.
-Jean Nouvel
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News of the scheme’s completion comes after Nouvel’s 53W53 scheme in New York City topped out in June. 2018 has also seen significant construction of the firm’s National Museum of Qatar ahead of a predicted December 2018 opening.
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News via: Jean Nouvel