Bordeaux's MÉCA Creative Hub Opens June 29, Designed by BIG

The MÉCA (Maison de l'économie créative et culturelle) opens in Bordeaux on June 29, 2019, a 12,000-square-meter creative hub designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) with Freaks freearchitects. The €60 million project, 94% funded by the Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine and the rest by the Ministère de la Culture, houses three institutions: OANA (Office Artistique de la Nouvelle-Aquitaine), ALCA (Agence livre, cinéma et audiovisuel en Nouvelle-Aquitaine), and FRAC (Fond Régional d'Art Contemporain). The building features an 850-square-meter panoramic terrace overlooking the Garonne River and public green spaces. Its monumental asymmetric arch design allows multiple access points and includes a public 'urban room' for installations and performances. The FRAC's opening exhibition, 'Il est une fois dans l'Ouest,' curated by Claire Jacquet, runs until November 9, featuring about 100 artists from western France and Africa, drawing from the FRAC's permanent collection. The building, 120 meters long and 37 meters tall, is clad in 4,800 sand-colored concrete panels and includes a café-restaurant, Le Crem, with river views. BIG won the commission in 2012 after a competition with 152 entries, beating W-Architectures, Flint, and SANAA.