The MRI Center (Maison de la Recherche et de l'Imagination) is located in Caen, on the "peninsula" between the Orne River and the channel that connects the city to the English Channel. This area is now being reconstructed, in recent years a concert hall for "actual" music by Cargö and a new building of the Higher School of Arts and Media Can Cherbourg (MRI was built right next to them) have appeared there, through a small canal there is a new Palace of Justice and is being built according to the project OMA Regional Multimedia Library.
Bruther architects faced the problem of lack of context: on the "peninsula" the city is actually being re-created, and so far the partially formed environment consists of a series of landmarks. The solution was the idea of a "clash", a "victorious position": MRI does not merge with the locality, but claims its right to an important role in the new area. However, the geometry of its plan and the choice of materials (ETFE membrane, concrete, steel, etc.) are associated with the urban development situation, in particular, with the industrial past of the "peninsula".
MRI is compact: in this way the authors of the project saved an exhaustible resource - the earth's surface - and created the necessary spatial pauses between their building and the concert hall and the higher school. They call their concept "vertical hangar". In addition, the MRI is raised off the ground on poles so that its ground floor is permeable to pedestrians and the area around it can be used for social events.
Above, there are three floors, each with a space of 500 m2. These floors can be easily re-planned depending on the needs of the institution, as well as used independently of each other at any time of the day. Their height - 6 m - allows you to arrange mezzanine tiers. All technical areas (storage, stairs and elevators, bathrooms, etc.) are moved to the periphery of the building. Maximum flexibility is due to the function: MRI combines public laboratories, a business incubator, a variety of spaces for events, including public ones. All this is united by the idea of science and research. The founders of the center were the scientific association Relais d’sciences and the Kan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The first floor, as mentioned, is "empty", the second contains space for conferences, film screenings, etc., as well as a "living laboratory", the Living Lab for a variety of experiments and verification of pilot projects. The third is the Fab Lab - a "production laboratory" with digital machines, a 3D printer and similar equipment. The meeting room for 90 people (it can be divided into three parts) occupies a mezzanine tier. The fourth floor is given over to the office of a free plan for employees of the founding institutions of MRI, startups, etc. It is like a coworking space for about 40 people.
The building is completed by a dome with a terrace around it, from where, from a height of 40 meters, a panoramic view of Cana opens. Here you can appreciate the idea of the architects, who oriented their building towards one of the main historical monuments of the city - the monastery of La Trinité of the 11th century - along the line of the park, which will appear on the "peninsula" in the near future. The terrace is naturally suitable for various events. MRI also has a bar and a design shop.
