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Site Verrier de Meisenthal: Dialogue with Industrial Heritage

Hidden in the bucolic landscape of Northern Vosges Natural Park, Site Verrier de Meisenthal is a publicly funded active cultural center in a historic glass factory dating back to the 18th century.

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Three independent yet interrelated institutions are sited on different levels: the glass museum (Musée du Verre et du Cristal) – a living memory tracing the history of glass at the site; the CIAV (Centre International d’Art Verrier) – an international glass art center where traditional craftsmanship meets contemporary practices; and the Cadhame (Halle Verrière) – a multidisciplinary cultural space hosting art installations, happenings and concerts. Our intervention brings them together to define a contemporary institutional identity in dialogue with an industrial heritage.

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An undulating poured-in-place concrete surface alludes to glass production while it merges the buildings. The surface functions as roof, ceiling and wall, connecting the buildings’ ground floors to shape a public plaza. New functions are sensitively introduced under and over this surface, including offices, workshop areas, a cafe and a restaurant.

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Existing building functions are reimaged and extended: the factory hall is given a new entrance on a previously unused basement floor and a 500-seat black box theater that can be reconfigured as a theater with standing room for 700 or opened into a concert hall for 3,000. The new public space heightens civic awareness of the historical site and also introduces a highly flexible venue for outdoor theater performances, concerts, and seasonal festivities.

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urbanNext (April 23, 2025) Site Verrier de Meisenthal: Dialogue with Industrial Heritage. Retrieved from https://urbannext.net/site-verrier-de-meisenthal-dialogue-with-industrial-heritage/.
Site Verrier de Meisenthal: Dialogue with Industrial Heritage.” urbanNext – April 23, 2025, https://urbannext.net/site-verrier-de-meisenthal-dialogue-with-industrial-heritage/
urbanNext August 10, 2022 Site Verrier de Meisenthal: Dialogue with Industrial Heritage., viewed April 23, 2025,<https://urbannext.net/site-verrier-de-meisenthal-dialogue-with-industrial-heritage/>
urbanNext – Site Verrier de Meisenthal: Dialogue with Industrial Heritage. [Internet]. [Accessed April 23, 2025]. Available from: https://urbannext.net/site-verrier-de-meisenthal-dialogue-with-industrial-heritage/
Site Verrier de Meisenthal: Dialogue with Industrial Heritage.” urbanNext – Accessed April 23, 2025. https://urbannext.net/site-verrier-de-meisenthal-dialogue-with-industrial-heritage/
Site Verrier de Meisenthal: Dialogue with Industrial Heritage.” urbanNext [Online]. Available: https://urbannext.net/site-verrier-de-meisenthal-dialogue-with-industrial-heritage/. [Accessed: April 23, 2025]

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