Le Volcan – Oscar Niemeyer Cultural Center

The "Grand Volcan", which decorates the large sculpture of an open hand on the outside, houses the stage of the Scène Nationale on the inside. And a beautiful bar where live concerts, poetry slams, cabaret and other events take place.

In one part there is a big event building for exhibitions and concerts, the other part has a public library (with toilet, who cares .....).

The building complex of Oscar Niemeyer is located at the end of the commercial basin 'Bassin du Commerce', one of the most important areas of the center. It stands on a square site with 120m side length and is surrounded to the south, north and west by residential buildings in Perret style. Niemeyer did not want to make this complex of buildings independent of orthogonal architecture. He plays with the opposites of mass, level and size and was aware of the impact of his work on the urban environment.
Already in his first designs Niemeyer proposed not a large dense but two circular building, which were placed on a large plate in a lower-lying forum. Shops with awnings made of concrete, restaurants, information stands and day care should crowd and connect between the two buildings. At a depth of 3.50m, pedestrians were protected by a slightly corrugated canopy. The free-swinging plate was placed so that it looked as if the two white buildings seem to be coming out of the ground. The streamlining of the buildings upwards reinforced this idea and gave momentum. Niemeyer had lowered the place, thus creating a completely new structure, which did justice to the climate (wind from the sea) and the environment (harmony of the residential buildings around the square). It was supposed to be a place with several different architectural dimensions: the pedestrians had several perspectives, they could see from above or move downstairs. Niemeyer had proved that his architectural language, which he had developed in warm Brazil, could also be expressed here in Le Havre. The aim of Niemeyer was to leave the floor area as free as possible and to make everything as minor as possible disappear.