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The light of culture. Champs Libres

Rennes, France

Occupying a surface of 35,280 m2 overall, the Champs Libres is the new cultural centre of Rennes Métropole.

The idea was that three cultural facilities in the city of Rennes, all occupying premises they had long outgrown, should be brought under one roof: the Public Library, the Musée de Bretagne and the Espace des Sciences (a centre of scientific, engineering and industrial learning).

A competition was launched for the design of the new building, and won by architect Christian de Portzamparc.

The Musée de Bretagne is laid out on a single storey, resembling a girdle that extends fully around the other two structures: the “Espace des sciences”, a giant zinc cone, its largest room on the ground floor, which terminates uppermost in a spherical planetarium with a seating capacity of 99; and the Library, a six-storey building conceived as an upturned pyramid.

The lighting is provided by iGuzzini fixtures able to meet the various needs of a multipurpose venue such as this. Recessed Optica and Pixel Plus are installed in the library, to give both background and accent lighting.

The museum is equipped predominantly with Le Perroquet and Le Perroquet professional units, to ensure maximum flexibility of use. The lighting in the conference hall uses recessed Reflex units, whereas the fixtures in the dome of the planetarium are Lingotto spots. Transit and entrance areas are lit by a combination of Linealuce wall fixtures, recessed Optica (asymmetric) and Pixel Plus downlights and Le Perroquet Professional.