This article was taken from the April 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
This jagged building is the Musée des Confluences, built on a man-made peninsula in Lyon, France, at the point where the Rhône and Saône rivers converge. "The ground water is very high," says Wolf Prix, principal architect of Austrian firm COOP HIMMELB(L)AU. "We had to drill about 500 piles into solid ground so it would be safe to build on."
The €185 million (£140m) structure took more than four years to build and comprises three parts: the crystal, a glass and steel entranceway which contains a 33-metre-high "gravity well" to reduce the weight of the building by a third; the steel-panelled cloud; and a concrete plinth at the base. Nine exhibition spaces are built into the cloud, which are connected to workshop and storage spaces by lifts. "It's one of the most functional museums you can imagine," says Prix, 72. "They can remodel an exhibition or close a hall without disrupting guests."
It's also green: the surrounding water is used for geothermal heating and cooling, and the entrance boasts zero energy consumption. And if you can't find anything to look at inside, there are always the river views.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
