TOULOUSE A SPACE ODYSSEY
In 1959, Charles de Gaulle inaugurated, in Toulouse, the CEMES geode which harbors a powerful electron microscope. During his visit, the President, impressed by the modernity of this equipment, decided to make Toulouse the French scientific capital by developing national engineering schools. Toulouse launching towards the stars!
Toulouse is a city resolutely driven to space. In 1997, the city created a scientific cultural center on this theme, the Cité de l'Espace, the first tourist site in the city of Toulouse with 300,000 visitors per year.
In 2020, an architectural call for proposal is launched to rehabilitate an aging attraction, a space flight simulator and a spatioport.
The architectural drawing, chosen for this Spatioport project, reminds roundness of the Géode. In resonance, Its shape calls to mind the circularity of a planet ring, a new strong signal on the site, and its shimmering materiality, between earth and sky, captures and sublimes mysterious clouds and vegetal shadows. The ring's generous dimension, boldly impose its strong presence on the site with its wrapping shape, creating lights play as an vibration on the facade.
The Spatioport ring allows an interior fluidity, a simplicity recalling the qualities of a pared-down design. All the functions defined by the specifications coexist smoothly, in soft atmosphere, favorable to the reception, playful and gives coherence to the project.
