LANXESS presented its third Colored Concrete Works Award in Berlin to a distinguished architect who has achieved something unique in the use of colored concrete. This year’s award goes to Rudy Ricciotti for his “Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée” (MuCEM) project in Marseille in the south of France. The building is constructed of a total of 1,100 cubic meters of concrete – in the form of prefabricated concrete slabs – and 250 cubic meters of in-situ concrete. The dark gray color tone was provided by the LANXESS pigments Bayferrox 330 and Bayferrox 318.
Composition of meaning, function, and color
From all the entries, the jury selected the “Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée” (MuCEM) as the winner. The museum is one of the most spectacular in France and among the 50 most visited in the world.
The aspects of function and color equally influenced the jury’s decision. The airy, mesh-like concrete structure enveloping the MuCEM is open to the Provençal sun, creating unique light effects. Situated on the outer tip of the Old Port, in the cultural and historical center of Marseille, the MuCEM with its dark color is an attractive contrast to the beige of the historical Fort Saint Jean that guards the entrance to the port. In this historically significant location, Ricciotti’s building draws its own identity from the textbook squareness of the plot and the horizontal profile.
Ricciotti had all the prefabricated slabs and 384 panels produced and prepared near the construction site so as to minimize environmental impact by keeping distances short and to enhance the identification of local residents with the museum by employing local craftsmen and specialists.
The international jury of experts that selected the “Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée” as this year’s winning project included: Professor Ralf Niebergall, Vice President of the German National Chamber of Architects, Ulrike Kunkel, Editor-in-Chief of “Deutsche Bauzeitung,” Professor Tobias Walliser, founder of the Laboratory for Visionary Architecture, Bernd Heuer, President of the agenda4 Association, a network of companies and universities in the building and real estate industry, and LANXESS pigment experts Thomas Pfeiffer and Dr. Carsten Rosenhahn.
Airy lightness and solid permanence
Ricciotti deliberately chose black concrete as the building material for this project. Made of ultra-high-strength concrete, the building shows how airy lightness and solid permanence can be united in technological brilliance.
It was essential to Ricciotti that his distinctive building does not compete with the fort but still stands out from its surroundings. At the same time, he wanted to make sure that its appearance and surface texture remain flawless in the long term, despite weather influences such as the moist, salty ocean air.
In a location like this, a facade coating would never have lasted long enough. The architect, therefore, decided to integrally color the concrete with Bayferrox 330 and Bayferrox 318 pigments from LANXESS. As a result of their excellent light stability and weather resistance, these color pigments are especially suited to the life span expected of concrete of at least 100 years.
Colored Concrete Works – practical examples of color design for modern buildings
Through the Colored Concrete Works initiative, LANXESS wants to inspire architects with ideas for working with colored concrete. The brand new MuCEM case study celebrating the work of CCW Award winner Rudy Ricciotti is now online available at: www.colored-concrete-works.com
The “Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée” at the Port of Marseille. The building is constructed of a total of 1,100 cubic meters of concrete – in the form of prefabricated concrete slabs – and 250 cubic meters of in-situ concrete. The dark-gray color tone of the airy mesh-like concrete structure was provided by the LANXESS pigments Bayferrox 330 and Bayferrox 318. Photo: Agence Rudi Ricciotti.
Specialty chemicals company LANXESS presented its third Colored Concrete Works Award on May 17, 2017, in Berlin to a distinguished architect who has achieved something unique in the use of colored concrete. This year’s award goes to Rudy Ricciotti for his “Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée” (MuCEM) project in Marseille, France. Tilman Reichert, an architect on the MuCEM project who works at Rudy Ricciotti Architects, accepted the award at the specialty chemical company’s Berlin offices: (from left or right: Jörg Hellwig, head of the Inorganic Pigments business unit at LANXESS, Tilman Reichert, Rudy Ricciotti Architects, Keynote Speaker Chris Kühn, Member of the German Parliament (MdB).