Reconfiguration of the COMPA Museum

This museum refurbishment and reconfiguration is an opportunity to search and experiment;Traversing bias, sequence, space, budget, collection, semantic dialectics, we propose a spatial strategy by offering a polymorphic tool that creates new cognitive experiences, messages, and paths to these messages.

We propose to clearly and simply redefine the entry of the COMPA by entirely covering the last  level of the structure with a luminous skin which will guide the visitor upon entering the site.

This is not only a graft on the existing building, linked to public use of the reception; it is also an opalescent constituent which intrigues and provokes.The metal frame and the vestibule create a delicate silhouette slightly behind the new facade, covered by the vegetal mass of a winter garden.

This intervention aims to re-links the exterior and interior spaces, engaging a porosity that resonates with the modularity of the museum spaces.

Addressing the question of the density of works and their relationship to each other, our proposal is based on a territorial system by creating islands, objects that the museum can decide to fragment or unite.

The Mob-îlots, or mobile-islands, are an integration of seven cabinets of curiosities, autonomous museum parcels that frame the space, creating interiority while simultaneously providing large openings to the museum and the landscape.They are also physical materializations of the museum sequences, including the history of land, and the history of Ideas.
Crowned by the most significant machines, the main thematic objects are put on a pedestal, signifying the transitions associated with the program.Thus we create a gallery above the existing gallery.
The synthesized view of the seven principal machines give an overview of the exhibition while reducing the number of machines on the ground.

The Mobile-islands are a re-transcription of one of the challenges of the new museography of COMPA. The lighting manifests itself through an outer shell in translucent glass, which is opalescent and resilient, while the history of ideas is embodied by wood superimposed on the interior, robust in the manner of a rustic cabin.

Supporting structure and museum technology are integrated within the thickness of the walls of the Mobile-islands. This includes projectors, lighting, sound diffusion, interactive educational devices. The future deployment of the multimedia tools will be aided by conditions of acoustic comfort, ergonomics of vision (lighting) and optimal occupational densities. Prospective materials for the interiors include wood and felt, which will contribute to creating a controlled and directed environment of diffusion. The Mobile-islands are immersive devices that can be consolidated or isolated to create various museographic conditions.
This system offers the visitor a museum experience which is both intimate and non-exclusive.
The Mobile-islands can be moved to the mezzanine in any order, and they can be nested to form a rather compact museographic space, allowing the temporary exhibition to gain space for special events by generating an extension of 210 m2, as well as benefitting from more views on the museum.Accessible from the audiovisual room and permanent exhibition room, the seven cabinets of curiosities create a unique space, manifesting a massive yet delicate interiority.

• Type: Equipement
• State: Private Competition
• Year: 2011
• City: CHARTRES, FRANCE
• Client: Conseil Général d’Eure & Loir
• Area: 3140m²
• Budget: 1 038 573 €
• Team: Studio Malka mandatory architects, Zen+dCo scénographe, GMGB bureau d’étude structure, fluides & économistes