Piano

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ARCH 366: Environmental Building Design

Sustainable Building Design Case Study:

Jean Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center, New Caledonia

Renzo Piano Building Workshop

Rizalyn Corciega

“The return to tradition is a myth ... No people has ever achieved that. The search for identity, for a model, I believe

it lies before us ... Our identity is before us.”1 Jean Marie Tjibaou, leader of the pro-independence movement in the

French Territory of New Caledonia during the 1980’s, made this statement regarding the Native Melanesian people in the

South Pacific, known as the Kanak. Tjibaou was assassinated in 1989, yet his vision for the future of his people retained

its potency. Tjibaou wanted his people to become active participants in the modern world, yet he did not call for an

abandonment of tradition in the acceptance of the modern. Instead the integration of balance between traditional and

modern culture was desired; and the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre, built in 1989 and designed by Italian architect

Renzo Piano, became the fruit of their suffering and a symbol for their aspirations. As a well-documented ‘green’ building,

the popular aspects of the project will be assessed through a collection of philosophies, historical background, and

building construction analysis. As the building is closely linked to the leader to whom the name honours, Tjibaou’s

principles will also be closely paralleled to that of the building’s principles. Can history and tradition be accurately

represented within architectural innovation? Piano’s doctrine of a design process that constantly relates to the construct

required a relationship that was sensitive to the ecological and sociological realms of New Caledonia. Other architects

may learn from the Centres’ successes and weaknesses, adopting the acceptable principles to avoid the construction of

undesired transplanted architecture.

From the beginning Piano stressed the importance of context as an irrefutable resource. An international invited

competition for the design of the building devoted to the Kanak culture was the result of a request by the Agence de

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Developpement de la Culture Kanak (ADCK) of New Caledonia to the government of France. The ADCK awarded

architect Renzo Piano with the top honour. Piano has his own theory as to why his design won the competition:

“When we say ‘culture’ we usually mean our own: a fine soup blended from Leonardo da Vinci and Freud, Kant and

Darwin, Louis XIV and Don Quixote. In the Pacific it is not just the recipe that is different but the ingredients as

well. We can approach their soup with detachment, bringing our own cutlery. Or we can try to understand how it

was born, what philosophy of life has shaped it… I didn’t bring my own cutlery. All I brought were my skills and

those of the Building Workshop: techniques needed to create spaces and construct buildings.”2

The decision to interpret the building from its contextual resources is part of Piano’s belief that architectural invention

cannot ignore history or tradition. These elements are the basis, the form on which to build, utilizing only the basic skills

of an architect to translate history, geography, geology, and climate into architectural innovation.

Piano was required to approach the project with extreme sensitivity to the sociological and ecological realms. The

articulation of memory required a harmonious relationship with the future, and avoidance of representing the culture as

stagnant3. Yet an invention that did not respond to the pre-existing nature would be an insult to a people seeking liberty

from colonial rule and transplanted culture. Aware of this challenge Piano felt the “…dread of falling into the trap of

folkloric imitation, straying into the realm of kitsch and the picturesque…”4 Thus from Pacific culture Piano took the ideas

of the village cluster and the ribbed huts, creating an explicit visual link from the buildings in the vernacular, to the curved

structure of the abstracted huts within the cultural center (Figure 1 and 3). These huts are constructions of a dual

purpose, as they serve to link the new architecture with tradition and form a balance between nature and building.

The language of construction, materiality, and spatial permeation in relation to the site are prominent aspects

explored within the building design5. The center is located on a promontory in the narrow Tina Peninsula, 10km from the

capital city of Noumea. The entire complex is 230 metres long and enclosed in a setting of great natural beauty. The

assemblage of buildings is comprised of ten conical huts, constructed of wooden joists and ribs. These huts are arranged

in three groups, or village clusters, placed along a lower rectangular volume, or path, that travels along an axis imitating

the gentle curve of the peninsula. The tall huts house the communal spaces of the building and are essentially circular in

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plan. The circle overlaps the space of the long connecting corridor, allowing each hut a connection into the rectangular

volume of the building6. Details pervade the construction, and materials allow a rich complexity to dominate. Products

specified include: laminated wood and natural wood, concrete, coral, aluminum castings, glass panels, tree bark and

stainless steel. The huts are in direct contact with the windy and stormy pacific sea, while the other side faces a tranquil

lagoon (Figure 2). The curved staves of the outer facing vary in spacing and width to create evocative incarnations of

traditional Kanak habitats and the tall pine trees of Noumea. As traditional symbols of potency and power, this reference

to pine trees “strengthens the affinity with the vegetation stirred by the wind.”7 Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3

Traditional Huts of the Kanak Aerial view of the site The Huts of the Tjibaou Cultural Center

The relationship between the building construction and the traditional Kanak environment in the cultural center

does not remain within the aesthetic realm. Piano’s perpetual doctrine of the modern construct in reconciliation with

nature and the environment proved a fundamental aspect of the project. Piano describes the huts as “containers of an

archaic appearance whose interiors are equipped with all the possibilities of modern technology.”8 This fusion was

accomplished with the combination of laminated timber and a double-skin roof, in which passive ventilation is allowed to

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regulate the air currents. The selection of Iroko wood, a West African timber, gave the structure incredible strength and

resistance to termites and weathering, while also appearing analogous to indigenous greenery. The openings in the outer

facing confront the sea, and are able to manipulate the breezes that are predominant in Pacific climate (Figure 4).

Horizontal slats provide shade and are operated by sensory and measuring appliances that open and close in response to

wind direction and intensity. Starting with louvers at the base of the wall, air is encouraged to flow through the space,

while the cavity between the inner and outer skin functions as a warm-air stack, expelling air through the rooftop skylights9

(Figure 5 and 6). This system of air circulation was developed with the use of computers and models were tested to

ensure seamless adjustment between slight breezes to cyclone strength winds.

In the design of the cultural center Piano has created a framework for continuing and reestablishing the Kanak

identity. Piano utilized the opportunity to consult with the Kanak people in attempt to understand and accurately reflect

the traditional culture. It is a curious inquiry to discover what Tjibaou himself would think of Piano’s design if he were alive

today. Tjibaou was a doctorial student at the Sorbonne in Paris and has been quoted with the statement: “Although I can

share with a non-Kanak what I possess of French culture, it is impossible for him to share the universal element within my

culture.”10 With the success and worldwide acclaim that Piano’s building has received within literature, the press and

architectural reviews, it could be concluded that with Piano’s noteworthy design he has actually accomplished the

impossible. The dynamic elevation of dancing huts against the sky allows the world to share in the beauty of New

Caledonia, and gain insight into the formerly obscure culture of the Kanak people. Although Piano’s huts are abstracted

works, his awareness of the symbolic role it plays is emphasized by the efficient climate balancing system:

Page 5 of 13 Figure 4

Page 6 of 13 Figure 5

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Figure 6

Page 8 of 13 “I decided to tone down the resemblance between ‘my’ huts by reducing the length of the vertical elements and

giving the shells more open form … the staves no longer meet at the top, as had initially been planned. The wind

tunnel showed that this produced a greater effect of dynamic ventilation. Yet they have deeper resonance, some

literal: the wind surging through the slats of the open outer carapace gives the huts a voice… it is that of the Kanak

villages and their forests.”11

The poetic image that this statement creates is Piano’s greatest success, a culture embodied within a structure that

utilizes the ever-present trade winds to create a balanced environment.

Amongst the myriad of architectural acclaim it is hard to perceive any difficulties with the project, yet anomalies do

exist. As the building is being hailed as the first piece of architecture representing Pacific culture, it is almost a paradox

that the collaboration of architect and client is Italian and French respectively. The usage of vernacular typology was an

uncomplicated move, yet the abstraction could be considered questionable. The traditional hut in Piano’s building opened

the roof to the sky and in doing so removed the centre post, which is an element commonly identified with the leader in

Pacific societies, Tjibaou has even referred to the post as ‘the elder brother’12. In his writings Piano remains silent

regarding the loss of the Kanak leader “…whose life came to a dramatic end in 1989.”13 The detachment of Pianos’

building to the politics of the Kanak Independent movement seemed to be graciously brushed over by the media. In a

sense his building could be perceived as the product of French exploitation, utilizing the Kanak culture and popular

architecture as reason to attract tourism, or continue colonial ties. The Iroko timber used extensively in the project is also

an oddity. Despite being a natural element, this product was imported from Africa and the structure was prefabricated in

France, contradicting the sentiment of local architecture that is built of local materials. Yet against all of these anomalies

is the buildings’ evocative relationship between the sea and land, the power and dominance of the trees, and the strength

of the wind (Figure 7). The appearance of effortless architecture, a construct that belongs only to the New Caledonian

earth, and a design that respects the desires of the Kanak people, this is the dominant aspect of the architecture that has

gained the building so much acclaim.

The polite cultural sensitivity that characterizes the Tjibaou Cultural Center epitomizes the relationship between the

French and the Kanak. As Marie Claude Tjibaou, widow of Jean Marie Tjibaou and current leader of the ADCK, has said:

Page 9 of 13 “We, the Kanaks, see it as a culmination of a long struggle for the recognition of our identity; on the French Government’s

part it is a powerful gesture of restitution.”14 The centre is not just a storage house or time capsule of Kanak culture. It is

a growing building, able to move forward without forgetting the past. The building programme reads this concept in its

explicit organization. In the three villages are housed exhibitions, administration, and studio spaces. Outdoor spaces

seem unfinished, and a sunken amphitheatre at the back and an open courtyard for creative activities at the end of the

building path, permit the building to be open to future change, additions and evolution (Figure 8). Figure 7 Figure 8

The elevation evokes a rich relationship between nature and construction The building section delineates space available for future growth

Piano’s philosophy is that “True universality in architecture can be attained only through connection with the roots,

gratitude for the past, and respect for the genius loci.”15 This statement broadly defines a view that can easily be

assimilated into all worldwide architectural projects. The landscape of the site in New Caledonia was able to retain its

original beauty, and is further emphasized by the construct of the Cultural Centre. Balance and harmony, integration and

mediation, cultural and ecological sensitivity, are themes of an architectural language that can produce innovation without

ignoring context. Marie Claude Tjibaou describes the mediatory role of the building: “Today, everyone is coming to see

the architecture. Little by little, we will bring people to ask: ‘Why these arcs? Why these vaults?’ They will be

instrumental in helping the Kanaks achieve her husband’s ambition of telling ‘the world that we are neither escapees from

Page 10 of 13 prehistory nor archaeological remains, but men of flesh and blood.”16 This ability to communicate and channel the desires

of a culture through the permanence of architecture is a desirable skill. Success in architecture cannot be justified by the

criteria of beauty alone. The implementation of universality in relation to contextual relationships with respect and

gratitude for the history and place is the true measure of success.

The principles of the Tjibaou Cultural Centre concern the primacy of construction, values of materiality, spatial

permeation, and ecological sensitivity. There are also social aspects of the project that were integral elements, such as

cultural harmony, universal acceptance, and political restitution. Enigmatic discrepancies are overshadowed by the

overall success of the architecture, not only in media popularity but also in local pride. The Kanak people finally have a

permanent place of identity. A model that is strong, vibrant, and forward moving. Piano’s design process that

emphasizes context as the basis for architecture is a successful language that has multiple universal possibilities. This

balance between history and new technology is embodied in the Tjibaou Cultural Center, as it seeks to answer what was

considered impossible, to share the universality of a modern architectural language with the obscurity and tradition of the

Kanak people. Piano accomplished success with the beauty and grace of the abstracted vernacular huts because they

pursued aspects further than the aesthetic realm. Passive ventilation reflects the natural endowment of prevailing trade

winds in the Pacific Climate. The Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center is labeled a ‘green’ building, yet this description can

be stratified as a translation of history, geography, geology, and climate into architectural innovation. The image of

dancing huts against a Pacific tree line dominates this language, and stands proud upon the island. The architectural

expression conveys the attitude of the Kanak people, that their identity is that of the future yet they will not ignore their

past.

Page 11 of 13 ENDNOTES 1 McInstry, Sheila. Jean Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre. http://www.archiweb.cz/builds/kultura/kaledon.htm 2 Piano, Renzo. “Renzo Piano Logbook.” New York: The Monacelli Press Inc. 1997. p.174-183. 3 Firth, Melitta. Between Remembering and Forgetting. http://artwrite.cofa.unsw.edu.au/9918/firth.html 4 Piano. p.174 5 Blaser, Werner. “Renzo Piano-Centre Kanak.” Boston: Birkhauser, 2001. 6 McInstry. 7 Piano, Renzo. Jean Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center. http://www.rpwf.org/works/project38/intro.htm 8 Piano. intro.htm 9 DETAIL. Oct-Nov 1998. “Tjibaou Cultural Center.” p.1201 10 McInstry. 11 McInstry. 12 Austin, Mike. The Tjibaou Cultural Centre. http://www.thepander.co.nz/architecture/maustin8.php#note3 13 Piano. p.174 14 Firth. 15 Piano. p.174 16 McInstry.

Page 12 of 13 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figures 1,2, and 7: http://213.41.60.248/ project38/image.htm

Figures 3, 4, and 8: Blaser, Werner. “Renzo Piano Centre Kanak.” Boston: Birkhauser, 2001.

Figures 5 and 6: http://213.41.60.248/project38/more.asp

Page 13 of 13 REFERENCES

Austin, Mike. The Tjibaou Cultural Centre. http://www.thepander.co.nz/architecture/maustin8.php#note3

Blaser, Werner. “Renzo Piano Centre Kanak.” Boston: Birkhauser, 2001.

DETAIL. Oct-Nov 1998. “Tjibaou Cultural Center.” p.1200-1208

Firth, Melitta. Between Remembering and Forgetting. http://www.artwrite.cofa.unsw.edu.au/9918/firth.html

Jean Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center Images. http://213.41.60.248/frame_archives.htm

Ko te minisi i Niu Kaletonia. http://www.uvea-mo-futuna.com/breve.php3?id_breve=97

McInstry, Sheila. Jean Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre. http://www.archiweb.cz/builds/kultura/kaledon.htm

Piano, Renzo. Jean Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre. http://www.rpwf.org/works/project38/intro.htm

Piano, Renzo. “Renzo Piano Logbook.” New York: The Monacelli Press Inc. 1997. p.174-183.