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CMA CGM Tower - Marseille
In 2004 already, the international architectural competition dealing with the new CGA CGM headquarters ended with Zaha Hadid as the winner.
A new Landmark
Marseille is the second largest city in France after Paris. Located at the picturesque Côte d’Azur, which is invaded by the rich and beautiful during summer. Apart from that, Marseille is the most important French and one of the most important European harbor cities. Documents from the 7th century already talk about this place being used as a harbor, occupied by numerous cultures throughout the centuries. Marseille is also a trendsetter with its large-scale infrastructural program, promoting the re-construction of abandoned industrial and storage wastelands into modern office and prospering business quarters. As a company, you take the chance to be a pioneer by erecting a lighthouse visible from afar next to the only vertical buildings in Marseille, the Notre Dame de la Garde basilica, the Fort St. Jean and the Château d'If.
Curved Arch
Being one of the world’s largest shipping companies with a fleet of 400 ships, CMA CGM started off with a few employees three decades ago and keeps expanding its transportation network. Situated within an unimpressive heterogeneous blend of post-war buildings and the highway resting on columns, which is typical for coastal regions, a metallic curved arch – reminding of a ship’s bow – slowly grows up from the ground and moves towards the skies with a bold turn. According to Zaha Hadid, this is a combination of plainness, efficiency and modernity, yet you could also call it a bold impressive landmark, which is going to be visible from afar from the streets of Marseilles.
The spatial program is integrated into the structure. 2,400 work places will be available on the upper floors. Within the expansion of urban space, entwined with the horizontal levels of mobility, you will find the company’s public and semi-public areas. The building’s cubature already calls for a number of technical and constructional challenges. The installation of the vertical framework’s elements of 1,172 geometries mirrors the diversity and multi-facetedness of CMA CGM. Not to be recognized from outside, since the elegant double-shell glass façade with its bright and dark elements brings the complex structure together to form a homogeneous entity. Step by step, more highrise buildings are going to be added to the skyline of Marseille, but none of them will be a maritime symbol as elegant as the CMA CGM Tower designed by Zaha Hadid. constructor: CMA CGM, Marseille, France
architect: Zaha Hadid Architects
status: Construction time: 2006 - 2011
size: GFA: 94,000 m²
References:
Wikipedia CMA CGM Tower
CMA CGM Headquarters|Zaha Hadid architects - ArticleCMA CGM Tower - Marseille
In 2004 already, the international architectural competition dealing with the new CGA CGM headquarters ended with Zaha Hadid as the winner.
A new Landmark
Marseille is the second largest city in France after Paris. Located at the picturesque Côte d’Azur, which is invaded by the rich and beautiful during summer. Apart from that, Marseille is the most important French and one of the most important European harbor cities. Documents from the 7th century already talk about this place being used as a harbor, occupied by numerous cultures throughout the centuries. Marseille is also a trendsetter with its large-scale infrastructural program, promoting the re-construction of abandoned industrial and storage wastelands into modern office and prospering business quarters. As a company, you take the chance to be a pioneer by erecting a lighthouse visible from afar next to the only vertical buildings in Marseille, the Notre Dame de la Garde basilica, the Fort St. Jean and the Château d'If.
Curved Arch
Being one of the world’s largest shipping companies with a fleet of 400 ships, CMA CGM started off with a few employees three decades ago and keeps expanding its transportation network. Situated within an unimpressive heterogeneous blend of post-war buildings and the highway resting on columns, which is typical for coastal regions, a metallic curved arch – reminding of a ship’s bow – slowly grows up from the ground and moves towards the skies with a bold turn. According to Zaha Hadid, this is a combination of plainness, efficiency and modernity, yet you could also call it a bold impressive landmark, which is going to be visible from afar from the streets of Marseilles.
The spatial program is integrated into the structure. 2,400 work places will be available on the upper floors. Within the expansion of urban space, entwined with the horizontal levels of mobility, you will find the company’s public and semi-public areas. The building’s cubature already calls for a number of technical and constructional challenges. The installation of the vertical framework’s elements of 1,172 geometries mirrors the diversity and multi-facetedness of CMA CGM. Not to be recognized from outside, since the elegant double-shell glass façade with its bright and dark elements brings the complex structure together to form a homogeneous entity. Step by step, more highrise buildings are going to be added to the skyline of Marseille, but none of them will be a maritime symbol as elegant as the CMA CGM Tower designed by Zaha Hadid. constructor: CMA CGM, Marseille, France
architect: Zaha Hadid Architects
status: Construction time: 2006 - 2011
size: GFA: 94,000 m²
References:
Wikipedia CMA CGM Tower
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