OMA- CONGREXPO

CONGREXPO, FRANCE, LILLE, 1994

Congress / exhibition / concert hall


Within OMA's own masterplan for Euralille, we designed a building on a site separated from the station and the commercial centre by the railroad tracks. Congrexpo is 300 metres long and has a very diagrammatic organization, with three major components: Zenith, a 5,000-seat concert hall; Congress, a conference centre with three major auditoriums; and Expo, a 20,000m2 exposition hall. In the east-west direction, each of these components can be used independently, but openings between the components make it possible to use the building as a single entity on the north-south axis, to mix programs, to generate hybrids. more..
There are two huge metal doors between Zenith and Expo that can close or open, and if they open the separate parts become one, so you can also think of it as a theatre with a 200-meter deep backstage, or any other combination of these parts. Architecturally, Congrexpo is scandalously simple: an enormous plane of concrete, deformed into a scallop shape in the north, accommodates the concert hall; a concrete plate, folded according to the auditoria, slopes to become a bridge, and forms the conference centre. The bridge is placed in the field of the building, on enormous pilotis, in such a way that the connection - but also the separation - between the concert hall and the exhibition space can be made easily. The only gesture towards untity is a single roof under which all these elements are contained. It is not a building that defines a clear architectural identity but a building that creates and triggers potential, almost in an urbanistic sense. This was when OMA began to realise that our architecture was changing through our experience in urbanism - extending limits, generating possibilities. Congrexpo is a piece of equipment that, with minimal dissociation from the generic urban plane and minimal means of intensification, accommodates the urban condition - but inside rather than outside.


FACT SHEET Project: Congress, exposition, and cultural space Client: City of Lille (Pierre Mauroy, Mayor); SAEM Euralille (Jean-Paul Baietto, General Manager); Association Lille Grand Palais (Jean Delannoy, Vice-President) Year: 1994 Status: Built Location: Lille, France Site: Within OMA's masterplan for Euralille, between railway lines and highways Program: Total Area (45,500m2) Zenith: Concerts and theatre in Greek, procénium, and in-the-round auditorium. Surface area: 7,850m2; 6,000 places including 3,200 fixed seating, 1,000 retractable mobile seating, 1,800 mobile seating; 1,000m2 stage area. Congress: 1,500-seat auditorium for conferences, theatre, dance, cinema and product presentation; 500-seat auditorium for congress, theatre, cinema and lectures; 350-seat theatre for delegation meetings, small concerts, cinema and press conferences; 3,500m2 congress exposition space; 1,500-seat banquet space with cuisine; 2 x 200-seat conference/class rooms; 12 x 80-seat conference rooms; 2,500m2 administrative offices Expo: 20,000m2 exposition space dividable into three equal spaces; 6,000m2 lobby and meeting rooms, workshops, commercial space, office space, 4 bars and 2 restaurants Parking: 1,230 underground spaces Materials: Concrete, metal, plastic, wood Budget: €41m COLLABORATORS Associate architect: FM Delhay: François Delhay, F.M. Delhay-Caille, François Brevart, Xavier d`Alençon Engineers: Cecil Balmond, Rory McGowan, Robert Pugh, Ove Arup, London Interior finishings: Petra Blaisse with Julie Sfez Textiles: Petra Blaisse Facade consultant: Robert-Jan van Santen, Agence van Santen Sceneography: Ducks Sceno, Michel Cova Acoustics: Rens van Luxemburg, TNO/TUE General Contractor: Dumez Quillery, SNEP CREDITS Partner in charge: Rem Koolhaas Project Manager: Donald van Dansik Project Architect: Mark Schendel Team: Jan-Willem van Kuilenburg, Ruud Cobussen, Jeanne Gang, Diana Stiles, Rients Dijkstra, Ray Maggiore, Yushi Uehara, Ron Witte, Dirk Zuiderveld