The jury unanimously preferred this French architect's proposal to such famous finalists as Stephen Hall, Zaha Hadid and Rem Koolhaas.
Ricciotti ditched the fashionable design of steel and glass, taking inspiration instead from the views of old Marseille and Fort Saint-Jean, where the museum will be located.
Three-centimeter thick concrete sheets with increased elasticity and improved performance will define the appearance of the new complex. It will consist of two parts: a new building 16 meters high and the old Fort Saint-Jean, completely reconstructed, connected by a light bridge 80 meters long, already called the "flying carpet".
Oriental associations do not end there. Ricciotti, a French architect born in Algeria, designed something like a vertical kasbah - the citadel of a Muslim city. The museum should successfully fit into the architectural environment: it will be located at the entrance to the old Marseille port and next to the cathedral. Construction should be completed by 2009.
