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Location: Saint-Ours-les-Roches, Auvergne, France
Build: 1997 - 2002
Illustration: Madalena Boavida Guerra, based on a cross section by Hans Hollein.
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In 1994, Hans Hollein was commissioned to design a new European Park of Vulcanology, sited 1,000 metres up in the Massif Central. From afar the building, which is sunk three quarters underground, is reminiscent of one of his early collages: an aircraft carrier submerged in a landscape. Here though the main element is shaped like a volcanic cone, its exterior clad in black lava rock is wrapped around a shimmering gold interior. A ramp leads dramatically down to a subterranean floor where a series of galleries, a volcanic garden and an IMAX cinema are complemented by research and conference rooms. The route around the building was designed to take visitors on an emotional journey, inspired both by Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Dante's Inferno, and intended to show “the primeval forces of nature and the creation of our planet”. But here the journey ends at the restaurant, where, due to the lay of the land, panoramic views open out to the vistas beyond: resurrection after the descent.
(ltv)Exterior photo © Hans Hollein archive.
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