The intervention on the Docks of Marseille appears as an innovative way to renovate a historical building, giving it a contemporary reinterpretation.
The project, by the Italian design studio 5+1AA of the architects Alfonso Femia and Gianluca Peluffo, included the redevelopment of the ground floor, courts and basements for a total surface of 21,650 m2.
The building is located on the axis between the city and the sea. Nowadays, it houses local and regional handicraft shops.
Design, construction and engineering skills were combined with applied art and economy expertise to complete the project.
The peculiar design earned it several prestigious prizes such as the 2016 MIPIM Awards for the best shopping center.
The project redefines the four courtyards as commercial, artistic and cultural centres that, from inside, extend towards the two exterior places and the two adjacent streets: in this way, four breaks inside a transverse route has been created. The distinctive feature of this project is the North façade, a metallic surface with 30,709 letters based on different literary texts chosen by the designers.
The letters covering this particular façade were powder coated by Decoral^® Group, giving the project a unique style and architectural harmony, emphasized during the night by the backlighting system.
The dynamism of the architecture makes the Docks building a unique intervention. +