It's not often that art, architecture, and wine-making come together as a cultural statement. Unless, of course it occurs in France, which prides itself on its own special savoir vivre. Ironically, the person behind this sensual conjunction at Chateau La Coste in Provence, where a winery has been enlivened with works of architecture and sculpture, is an Irishman, Patrick (Paddy) McKillen.
Odile Decq draws from Lyon’s industrial context to project the waterfront’s new identity. From Oslo and Lisbon to Hamburg and Amsterdam, the last 20 years have seen many of Europe’s redundant urban dockyards transformed into architectural zoos, peppered with signature structures by top-tier architects, often with greater regard for novelty than for the particularities of history or place.
A different kind of FRAC Centre (Les Fonds R'gionaux d'Art Contemporain) opens September 14 in the historic city of Orl'ans, France'it is the first of the some two dozen regional cultural institutions to be devoted to architectural exhibitions as well as art.
The Strong Silent Type: For a contemporary art center, an architect plays with light and transparency to create a new home for the collection as well as an experience for discovering it.
While Rennes, the capital of France's Brittany region, does not make most travel guides' must-see lists, the university town of 200,000 still has its charms: crooked medieval streets lined with half-timbered buildings, stately 18th-century edifices, and cafés that spill out onto picturesque squares.
If there is any corner of the world less in need of a new architectural icon, it's Menton, a lovely seaside hill town situated 2.5 miles from Italy on the French Riviera.