PA G E 1 0 | L A F A R GE | A P R I L 2 0 0 6 | C R E S C E N D O

exp
C R E S C E N D O | L A F A R GE | A P R I L 2 0 0 6 | PA G E 1 1
loring
L
isten, discover, and progress. Listen, in order to act
tomorrow in the best interests of the planet. Twice a year,
Crescendo will open its pages to all those who explore
the future and contribute to re-energizing and moving the world
forward through intellectual, scientific, artistic, and social activities.
As part of this debate, as people who take initiatives, we make
it our priority to constantly look for new ways to contribute to
progress in all fields.
12 Tomorrow's cities | 16 New needs |
20 New materials | 24 New passions |
the world
on the move
PA G E 1 2 | L A F A R GE | A P R I L 2 0 0 6 | C R E S C E N D O
the city
in permanent (r)evolution
FRANCOIS ASCHER is a professor
at the French Institute of Urban Planning
at the University of Paris VIII, France,
and at the University of Geneva, Switzerland.
He is also chairman of the City on the Move
Institute's research and steering committee
and has authored numerous books,
including Metropolis, or the Future of Cities
and the Hypermodern Society.
T
he vast majority of people in developed
countries live in cities, which are continuing
to grow. Now, more than ever, urban infra-
structures are becoming economic engines driven
by individuals who are increasingly autonomous and
mobile. To gain a better understanding of how cities
must evolve in the face of this cultural shock, we
interviewed Francois Ascher.
exploring
tomorrow's cities
C R E S C E N D O | L A F A R GE | A P R I L 2 0 0 6 | PA G E 1 3
You say that society is moving away from the industrial
revolution towards a new modernity. What are the main
characteristics of this new modernity?
FRANOIS ASCHER | Developed societies appear to be pursing
a path to modernity that has three major characteristics:
individuals are seeking greater and greater autonomy, giving
rise to a society that is increasingly differentiated; science
and technology are playing a growing role in all social
activities; and a new capitalism appears to be emerging,
founded on a knowledge-based economy that will likely also
be based on the environment in the longer term. It won't
sound the death knell for industry any more than industry
put an end to agriculture, but it does place production
and the use of knowledge and information and their
associated technologies at the heart of societal dynamics.
It's a new phase of modernity that is being sketched out.
I call it hyper-modernism. This trend has progressively
put operating methods and ways of thinking into a crisis,
and it has not spared economic players who are confronted
with unprecedented diversity, complexity and uncertainty.
Are big cities being rethought under such conditions?
F. A. | A large majority of people in developed countries
already lives in cities. However, urbanization is taking on a
new form: metropolization. To a certain extent, the largest
cities are growing externally, absorbing as a part of their
daily functioning the surrounding towns, boroughs, villages,
and countryside. Vast metropolitan areas that no longer
resemble the cities of the previous period are rising up. These
are distended, discontinuous, heterogeneous, and multi-
polar urban zones. Urban planning must change under these
conditions.
Long-term planning for cities is becoming increasingly
difficult to do, and we are seeing the emergence of new
approaches, many of which owe their inspiration to the
strategic and heuristic management methods of the business
world. To be able to reassess plans without losing sight of
strategic objectives, we need more projects, greater flexibility
and more technology.
PA G E 1 4 | L A F A R GE | A P R I L 2 0 0 6 | C R E S C E N D O
Urban planners must also take into account a greater variety
of demands, the diversity of lifestyles, and habitats. We must
be able to build cities that are varied and capable of evolving.
It's a cultural shock for many urban planning professionals
who in the past often had set ideas about what kind of
cities needed to be built.
In your opinion, what places or urban features will
be decisive for tomorrow's cities? Where do concerns
about sustainable development factor into the trend?
I think mobility is a major challenge today. In new
metropolitan areas, mobility is needed to gain access to
work, the home, healthcare, education, culture, leisure
activities, and so on. The right to mobility has become a
kind of generic right that conditions all other rights. Because
a significant portion of the population does not have the
means to get around or can do so only in poor conditions,
we must improve city transit systems and probably renew
the public service concept of such systems.
At the same time, transportation raises energy issues and
contributes significantly to the greenhouse effect. We have
to find a successful way to limit the environmental impact
of transportation without limiting mobility. In this respect,
urban planning can play a role. Transport hubs can be built
near dense population centers, individual homes can be
grouped in lots, and transport services can be developed
to serve those areas. But I also believe that environmental
issues are such today that public authorities will pass
increasingly strict measures, requiring both individuals
and businesses to replace goods and equipment that no
longer meet environmental standards. That's why, I think,
this era of cognitive capitalism we are entering into will
also be an environmental capitalism. One that will replace
or change some problems...
Mobility is a major
challenge for today's
new metropolitan
areas
FRANOIS ASCHER

exploring
tomorrow's cities
C R E S C E N D O | L A F A R GE | A P R I L 2 0 0 6 | PA G E 1 5
The average number
of new city dwellers in China
each year
21
million
Guangzhou speeds ahead
with urban transformation
July 1, 2004 the Asian Olympic Committee selects Guangzhou as the host city
for the 16
th
Asian Games in 2010. The distinction is in keeping with the image
of a city that in just a few years has become Chinas third largest economic
metropolis, and the largest city in South China.
Hosting the Asian Games is a tremendous event for our city, one that will accelerate
our urban transformation, declares Professor Yuan Qifeng, from Sun Yat-sen
University and head engineer of Guangzhous urbanization project. The city
plans to invest over 20 billion euros between 2005 and 2010. To facilitate the
movements of spectators, transportation will be one of the top investment priorities.
Plans include new subway lines, expansion of the international airport, reinforcement
of the road network on the outskirts of the city, and construction of a new train
station. Yet the project does not stop there, and the local economy as a whole
should benefit from this event. A good example is the construction of a 610-meter
television tower, which will be the tallest in the world. Guangzhou is a model of
urban development, built to address concrete demand over the long term, explains
Professor Yuan Qifeng. It is a model that China can be proud of as it invents the
cities of tomorrow.
Faced with unprecedented demographic
pressures, it is imperative that Chinese cities
develop infrastructure to preserve the mobility
of their increasingly dense populations.
Guangzhou, host of the 2010 Asian Games,
is a perfect illustration.
PA G E 1 6 | L A F A R GE | A P R I L 2 0 0 6 | C R E S C E N D O
Record-breaking heat waves, droughts, hurricanes,
flooding Do all these events reflect climate change
due to global warming?
JAMES P. LEAPE | It really does look as if global warming is
contributing to the upsurge in violent weather events across
the planet. The proportion of category 4 or 5 hurricanes,
for example, has doubled since 1970.
Atmospheric data recorded daily by thousands of weather
stations around the world tell us that the Earth has warmed
by about 0.7C since 1860. We also know that the warmest
years occurred during the past two decades and that 2005
T
he Earths climate has changed during
the 20th century, with higher average
temperatures, reduced glacier coverage,
rising sea levels and more frequent violent
meteorological events. The big surprise gleaned
from scientific observations over the past fifty years
is that human activity is largely responsible for
escalating this climate change.
According to James P. Leape, Director General of
WWF International, there is still time to act, but we
must do so quickly if we want to preserve our
environment.
JAMES P. LEAPE,
Director general
of WWF International
Designing buildings
with low
emissions:
A major challenge
for the entire industry
and for the planet
co
2
exploring
new needs
C R E S C E N D O | L A F A R GE | A P R I L 2 0 0 6 | PA G E 1 7
was the warmest year of all. If we do not take drastic measures
to reverse this trend, the Earth could warm by about 5C
or even more over the next century an enormous increase,
the risks of which have not been sufficiently measured by
our society.
What are the main causes of global warming?
J. P. L. | The burning of fossil fuels coal, oil and natural
gas is the number one cause of climate change attributable
to man. Next is deforestation. These two activities emit
CO
2
, which makes up about 80% of the pollutants
responsible for global warming. Other culprits are
transportation, construction and industry. Although cement
production is responsible for only about 5% of all CO
2
emissions, its contribution could rise due to growing
demand for new buildings and infrastructure.
Do you think that the targets set by the Kyoto protocol
for 2012 are sufficient in the long term?
J. P. L. | No. Between now and 2012, the Kyoto protocol calls
for the industrialized nations to reduce their CO
2
emissions
by about 5% from their 1990 levels. Yet total greenhouse
gas emissions have to be reduced worldwide, not just in the
industrialized countries. And they must be cut drastically.
European countries should reduce their greenhouse gas
emissions by 30% before 2020. WWF has shown this is
possible. Much more must be done by all of the signing
members of the Kyoto protocol.
You say that cement manufacturing affects climate
change. Can anything be done to minimize its
impact?
J. P. L. | Cement is particularly rich in carbon. Yet it serves
to make concrete, the most widely used building material
in the world. The cement industry must strive to develop
new cements with low CO
2
emissions, as well as new
materials using recycled cement. This is a major challenge
for the industry as well as for all of humanity.
How does WWF help to meet these challenges?
J. P. L. | We have established numerous partnerships with
different types of players, including corporations, institutions
and local communities. Trust, transparency and measurable
objectives are the principal factors ensuring the success of
these partnerships. And if their efforts are deemed credible,
it is because they have combined ambitious targets with
independent assessment systems. They have already proven
that NGOs and industrial groups can work together to find
positive solutions for the environment.
PA G E 1 8 | L A F A R GE | A P R I L 2 0 0 6 | C R E S C E N D O
innovating
to meet the needs
of the poorest
M
eeting the needs of the neediest. A market
with a future for private companies.
Ashoka, an association network that
promotes the development of social contracting
in more than 60 countries, supports and finances
the work of individuals who offer innovative and
pragmatic solutions for improving the living
conditions of disadvantaged populations. To
achieve its aims, Ashoka is seeking to develop new
synergies with the business world, among other
areas. Today, the association is on the cutting edge
of a new low-cost housing concept. So what needs,
economic realities, and medium and long-term
societal challenges do these new means of
construction correspond to? Crescendo thought
you might like to know. Olivier Kayser, Vice-
President of Ashoka International, and Stphanie
Schmidt, Director, Full Economic Citizenship
Initiative Global, unveil the emergence of this
new market and explain the strategy of the
Economic Citizenship for All program.
STPHANIE SCHMIDT,
Director, Full Economic Citizenship
Initiative - Global at Ashoka International
OLIVIER KAYSER (right),
Vice-President of Ashoka International
exploring
new needs
C R E S C E N D O | L A F A R GE | A P R I L 2 0 0 6 | PA G E 1 9
Why should private enterprise get involved in these
programs?
S. S. | Low-income markets account for 80% of the world's
population and constitute an enormous reservoir of growth.
Developing countries are expected to account for 98% of
the growth in the world's population through 2025. In Brazil,
for example, 29.6 million low-income households, which are
considered bottom of the pyramid, represent 41% of the
overall purchasing power of the country's population. The
housing shortage in this country alone is in excess of 7 million
units.
O. K. | Low-income communities want to become part of
the market, as producers and consumers. That's what
economic citizenship is all about.
So where do you start?
S. S. | Business as usual won't do. Companies need to
recognize that they don't know much about these markets.
To reach far-flung slums and rural areas, they need to rethink
their product ranges and distribution channels and redefine
their communication strategies. To that end, social
contractors make the best partners because of their deep
knowledge of these potential customers.
What role can building material companies play?
S. S. | They can develop new solutions by working with
other players in micro-finance, for example. Government-
backed housing programs are insufficient and do not
resolve the problems of poverty and exclusion when they
are assistance-based.
O. K. | Access to housing is one of the primary needs of low-
income communities and it offers a true springboard to
economic and human development.
How does the concept of social contracting relate to the
solvency of the world's poorest people?
OLIVIER KAYSER | Contrary to popular opinion, price is
not the main reason why poor people are not able to buy
products made by big business. In the same way, access
to housing is limited by a lack of access to financing, which
in turn stems from the lack of a steady revenue stream
and the absence of property rights. Simply lowering the
price of building materials won't help much. Imaginative
"systemic" solutions are needed to overcome these obstacles,
and this is where social contractors excel.
STPHANIE SCHMIDT | Ashoka launched a new initiative
called "Economic Citizenship for All" to help create strategic
commercial alliances between private enterprise and social
contractors. The goal is to serve low-income markets by
establishing social and economic objectives to guarantee
the commitment of the partners over the long term.
PA G E 2 0 | L A F A R GE | A P R I L 2 0 0 6 | C R E S C E N D O
Professor PAULO J. M. MONTEIRO
is the Group Head of Structural Engineering,
Mechanics and Materials (SEMM) at the
University of California Berkeley.
A specialist in the structure of building
materials, he has written a thesis on the
microstructure of concrete and has published
several important books, as well as numerous
articles in the specialized press.
F
or years, scientists specializing in materials
have been striving to better understand
the forces that control the behavior of
construction materials: durability, strengh, ductility,
longevity, aesthetics and thermal behaviors, among
others. All of these characteristics originate in the
microstructure of materials, and to explore them
today requires increasingly sophisticated
technologies, often at the nanometric level. The
goal is to build models of typical interactions and
to reproduce them, first in the laboratory and then
in the field. In this way new technology is transferred
to industry and new materials are developed to
address new needs providing solutions for the
wildest dreams.
materials
nanotechnology to serve
building
exploring
new materials
C R E S C E N D O | L A F A R GE | A P R I L 2 0 0 6 | PA G E 2 1
You are a researcher and a world specialist
in the structure of building materials.
Why is it necessary to take a scientific approach
to the development of materials?
PAULO MONTEIRO | I am often asked that question. The
general public does not always associate new materials with
fundamental research. Even so, the development of new
building materials presupposes a comprehensive
understanding of the mechanisms responsible for their
strength, stiffness and durability. This is why a precise
understanding of the microstructure of materials is
necessary.
To be more concrete, what are the benefits
for industrial companies in the sector?
P. M. | There are numerous payoffs. For example, if industrial
groups want to develop more resistant materials, they first
need a better understanding of the binding forces at work in
the hydration products. This can be achieved through
fundamental research. Other examples: work on chemical
additives led to the development of self-placing and self-
leveling concretes; research on the microstructure of steel
reinforcement is used to develop new reinforced-concrete
structures with a useful life of several hundred years.
You mention the microstructure of materials.
What role does nanotechnology play in your work?
P. M. | Today, research is carried out at the nanometric level,
and enormous challenges must be met, such as the sensitivity
of materials to changes in temperature or humidity. It was
long believed that building materials were homogeneous.
However, we realized after working at the microscopic level
that they are actually highly complex and extremely
heterogeneous. We now use leading-edge technology such
as atomic force microscopy, nano-indentation, scanning
electron microscopy and X-ray microscopy.
How do you go about developing new materials?
P. M. | For years, the development of new materials was a
bit like alchemy: we used a hit or miss approach, relying on
trial and error to make progress. Today, our approach blends
fundamental science with advanced experimental methods.
We develop models that are then tested in laboratories.
Moreover, since it is impossible for a single individual to be
an expert in all subjects, we have created truly multi-
disciplinary scientific networks.
Nanometer-scale image of a material.
PA G E 2 2 | L A F A R GE | A P R I L 2 0 0 6 | C R E S C E N D O
What are the advantages of a multi-disciplinary
approach?
P. M. | Working with researchers from a variety of disciplines
often sparks new ideas. For example, it was while working
with biophysics researchers to develop procedures to
study cement using low-temperature scanning electron
microscopy, that I was first led to use soft X-ray microscopy.
As a result, I obtained precious information on the
hydration process.
In parting, could you reveal some of the big
research topics that the scientific community
is currently working on?
P. M. | One of the big themes is material longevity. A useful
life of about fifty years is no longer acceptable.
Consequently, we are working on developing a new
generation of building materials with a much longer product
life.
Yet other areas are also being explored through
fundamental research. Consider materials that are used
to repair engineering works: there is an enormous market
for industrial groups in this sector, with the development
of advanced building materials. In the United States alone,
there are currently about 250,000 bridges that need to
be repaired or renovated!
Today, research is carried
out at the nanometric level,
and enormous challenges
must be met
PAULO J. M. MONTEIRO

exploring
new materials
C R E S C E N D O | L A F A R GE | A P R I L 2 0 0 6 | PA G E 2 3
Industrial competitors
can share knowledge
Setting aside the clichs of cutthroat competition
between industrial rivals, cement manufacturers
in the European research network Nanocem felt the need
to join forces in order to share knowledge
and accelerate research, for the greater benefit of all.
Nanocem, a European research network created in 2004, has successfully managed
to get twelve European cement and related products manufacturers including
Lafarge and 21 academic institutions to work together. Nanocems goal is to
associate corporate R&D with academic scientific research to develop a better
understanding of construction materials. Cement and concrete are the most
widely used materials in the world, but they are still very poorly understood,
observes Professor Karen Scrivener, coordinator of the Nanocem network. By
combining our efforts and resources we have a range of tools and expertise
that is rarely found within any one, single laboratory. It enables us to analyze
and understand the fundamental mechanisms behind the behavior of materials.
Nanocem harnesses the latest technology to study the microstructure of materials.
Corporate partners finance the work of scientists, who focus their research on
projects that are likely to yield technologies that can be transferred to the cement
industry, explains Professor Scrivener. Our ambition is to build a knowledge
database for developing new materials and to improve existing ones, but also
to ensure that cement and concrete are finally recognized as sustainable, high
technology materials.
Professor KAREN SCRIVENER,
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
in Lausanne (EPFL), director of the Building
Materials department and coordinator
of the Nanocem network
F
or Rudy Ricciotti, materials evoke past
experiences, encounters and childhood
emotions, bringing forth a desire to
share, to touch, to invent a world where both
sensitivity and sensuality have their place.
PA G E 2 4 | L A F A R GE | A P R I L 2 0 0 6 | C R E S C E N D O
You have to start with materials and look at them from a
romantic point of view. When I was about 10 years old, there
was no school on Thursdays, and I would go to the
construction sites where my Italian father, working as a
foreman, built low-income housing. I remember wearing
plastic sandals, stepping in the freshly poured concrete
On Fridays, my father would meet with the masons, metal
workers and carpenters, one by one, to give them their pay.
It was a microcosm of the Mediterranean, and he knew them
all. Discussions were frank, sometimes heated. The masons
were tough. To me they were magicians.
Thats where I learned to love the people who work with raw
materials, real matter. It was a mans universe, gung-ho and
rugged, but also fraternalas a child I looked upon the
masons with hammers hanging from their belts as if they
were gladiators.
RUDY RICCIOTTI, born in Algiers, Algeria
in 1952, is an architect. His agency is based
in Bandol, in the south of France.
An iconoclast, he is known for diverse array
of projects, e.g. the Museum of European
and Mediterranean Civilizations,
the Potsdam Symphony Concert Hall,
the new Palace of Festivals in Venice,
the National Choreographic Center
in Aix-en-Provence, and the new wing of the
Louvre Museum in Paris dedicated to Islamic
arts. His unique approach in applying building
materials, especially his work with concrete,
has led him to collaborate often with
the Lafarge Group.

dreams
Rudy Ricciottis
material
exploring
new passions
C R E S C E N D O | L A F A R GE | A P R I L 2 0 0 6 | PA G E 2 5
When it comes to materials, theres no segregation along
class lines. In the building industry its the same: there
are simply people and their skills, trades and businesses.
As an architect, Im part of the family: I love being with
engineers, craftsmen and mates. I didnt learn my trade at
architecture school; I learned it from the people in the
building industry. I owe them everything.
Concrete can be sublime. It can also inspire fear. In intercity
zones, it reflects hopelessness. It becomes sublime in great
engineering works, in dams and bridges, and in certain
contemporary architectural masterpieces such as Le
Corbusiers Ronchamp church, or the CNIT building in Paris
La Defense where sensible projects take surreal flight.
To do this job, you have to accept that not everyone will like
what you do particularly the contractor, who is often
anxious to cut costs. I fight against cheap hardware, plastic,
aluminum, ugliness My buildings work. The contractors
are forgotten, but the memory of the craftsmen lingers
on. This is how the tradition of skilled craftsmen is
perpetuated, and Im very proud of that. I dont use products
that fail to meet ethical standards. Thats my traditional,
conservative side. Im a European architect and patriot. In
todays environment, you also have to push for innovation
if you want to defend a qualified workforce.
Today, with ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete,
we are about to embark on a new industrial adventure.
Architects are like test pilots heading down the runway,
ready for take-offthey must have total confidence in the
calculations and professional skills of mechanics and
engineers. We are on the verge of switching from propellers
to jet engines. The Footbridge of Peace in Seoul spans 130
meters, yet its platform thickness is just three centimeters
for a static end-girder height of 1.3 meters! The concrete
melds into a slender stroke.
With the Museum of European and Mediterranean
Civilizations in Marseille, France, the materials present a
different kind of complexity. The setting, at the foot of
the Saint-Jean fort, facing the sea, offers an absolute mineral
essence. Some people say it reminds them of fine latticework,
or a distant Orientalism. While it can be seen in this way,
there is nothing about the structure that is purely decorative.
Like a fish skeleton, everything is structural. Were moving
towards a dematerialization of the concrete structure, which
is becoming delicate, gossamer, intricately formed like a
cross-section of coral rock. Nobody knows where this new
material is taking us. We can reinvent the world.
Computer image of the Mucem project in Marseilles, France. Architect: Rudy Ricciotti.
PA G E 2 6 | L A F A R GE | A P R I L 2 0 0 6 | C R E S C E N D O
I love creating architecture for music, spaces where two of our
realms of perception hearing and sight can freely converse
and respond. Space affords us this blessing. The emotion of
music lies in the discovery and gradual entry into a different
world, a world that reveals itself in time.
I also understand space as a phenomenon that one grasps over
time, through movement, with its expectations, its surprises,
its concatenations. When sound and light fill this marvelous
void existing in the midst of solid structures, then space
and music are mutually revealed.
I long believed that music had a much greater emotional power
than architecture. I now believe that space has an emotional
power over people that is just as strong. Our lives are
inextricably linked to the numerous places that inhabit our
memories, shape our present or cast us into the future the
house we grew up in, our schools, gardens, the apartment
we live in today, the places we lived before If we broaden
dreams
of musical
architecture
Christian de Portzamparc
T
internationally renowned architect has
always given music great importance
in his work. Today, he is working on
several projects that are particularly demanding
in terms of acoustics.
Born in 1944 in Casablanca, Morocco, CHRISTIAN DE PORTZAMPARC
studied at the cole des Beaux Arts in Paris, France.
From simple buildings to the urban re-think, the town is a founding
principle of its work dominated by three major lines:
large landmark buildings (often dedicated to music and intended
for gatherings), urban zones as in the Massena Seine Rive Gauche
area in Paris, and sculptural towers such as the Manhattan tour
in New York, USA, for LVMH.
Based in Paris, he has built structures around the world.
Among other prizes, Christian de Portzamparc was awarded
the prestigious Pritzker Prize in 1994 and the Urban Planning
Grand Prize in 2004. He is an honorary member of the American
Institute of Architects and has held the Artistic Creation
chair at the College de France since February 2006.
exploring
new passions

C R E S C E N D O | L A F A R GE | A P R I L 2 0 0 6 | PA G E 2 7
the notion of architecture to encompass space and our
environment, architecture is the story of our lives. Places
obviously have an emotional power, to the same degree as
music. But music is more like a burn, a sharply felt moment,
whereas our relation to space is day-to-day and calm.
When I was asked to do the new Philharmonic building in
Luxembourg, before visiting the site, I studied photos of the
area and felt that the public should be guided to the future
building through an initiation zone, a circle of tall trees that
one would have to cross to enter the realm of music. But
once on the site, I saw that we didnt have enough space to
plant trees. Thats when I got the idea of replacing the ring
of trees with a light-filtering faade, one that was neither
opaque nor transparent, forming an envelope of light in which
the auditorium would be the central core. The rhythm of these
parallel shafts set in several elliptical rows became both
mathematical and musical.
At the heart of this colonnade of light lies the grand auditorium.
An auditorium is a musical instrument of uncommon size and,
one could also say, an instrument of space. Audiences at
the Philharmonic inhabit the walls of the auditorium, seated
in multi-level lodges of concrete and wood around the stage,
creating the atmosphere of a public square at night surrounded
by buildings. Here, I wanted the musicians and the public to
relate to each other, to be close, to feel a sense of grandeur
and intimacy. I wanted to free the imagination. As always, I
worked with acoustics expert Xu Ya Ying. I love the contrast
between the bright, snowy impression of the colonnade and
the shade of the hall. The wall between them is a prismatic
cliff, etched with acoustic fault lines that play on color.
Expanding on the idea of colored niches designed 20 years
ago for the La Villette auditorium in Paris, the Luxembourg
Philharmonics broad fault lines achieve a chromatic subtlety
that is altogether different, their geometry breaking down the
colors across a height of twenty meters.
Finally, the chamber music hall is set in a leaf that unfurls from
the ground and rises against the colonnade. This interior shell
is based on another experiment, stemming from our work
on the Moebius strip for the Nara competition in Japan in 1993.
This leaf plays with the filtered light from the outside, masking
it diagonally, and this game of contrast between opaque and
transparent upholds the unity of the project.
The Philharmonic building in Luxembourg, by architect Christian de Portzamparc: inside view of the light-filtering faade.