The old port is the heart of Marseille and, of course, one of its main attractions, from which the history of this city began. Around 600 BC it was here that the Greeks landed and founded a settlement called Massalia, which for millennia became the port center of the Mediterranean.
A huge number of architectural monuments are concentrated in the area of the Old Port, but it began to turn into a tourist zone only in recent years. In the course of a comprehensive reconstruction, its territory is being improved, the berths are being transformed into pedestrian zones, and the ships and technical structures that were previously located along the embankment were transferred to new platforms located further from the coast. The most important stage in the creation of a full-fledged public space here was the construction of a new pavilion, which will allow the port territory to be used for a variety of events in any weather. Norman Foster's team was faced with the difficult task of building an object that, despite its impressive size, would not distort the existing appearance of the harbor.
The solution proposed by Foster + Partners can be called a compromise in every sense. Firstly, the architects did not begin to build a full-fledged volume here, limiting themselves to the typology of the street pavilion, the boundaries of which are rather arbitrary. Secondly, instead of glass - perhaps the most traditional material for new construction in the historical environment - polished stainless steel was used here. It is from stainless steel that a canopy with dimensions of 46 by 22 meters is made, which is placed strictly parallel to the embankment and is supported by eight thin metal supports. The inner plane of the resulting roof works like a huge mirror, reflecting the pedestrian zone, port, water, ships and people. As conceived by the architects, the new shed will not only give a finished and more comfortable look to the new pedestrian zone, but also make it possible to hold fairs, concerts, and public performances here.
Due to the appearance of a mirror surface of such a large area, the harbor space visually expands significantly and seems to acquire an additional dimension. However, not only the constantly changing reflection, but also the minimum thickness of the steel sheet used, gives the pavilion a special expressiveness. It is so thin that it is almost invisible in the panorama of the port - as the authors of the project themselves say, from afar the pavilion is perceived as “a thin silver thread on the horizon”.
A. M.
