UGC Ciné-Cité Strasbourg

On one side the traffic is constant, with cars coming and going between France and Germany; on the other side are motionless water, wharves and pedestrians. The site’s dual character is stamped on the architecture, which merges into this ambivalence. Facing the RN 4, the façade asserts itself in an unbroken 120 metres of length. Between bricks and Vosges sandstone, the shingles form an openwork filter, creating a unifying effect. Behind, the building’s technical components and the volume of the auditoriums are integrated into a precise layout. The screens appear in reverse, hollowed out, in an original geometry that punctuates the façade and gives a sense of direction. The effect is cinematic.

Alongside the dock, the architecture is adapted to the scale of the pedestrian. The auditoriums protrude, superimposed in pairs. The curve of the screens is apparent, especially at night when they look luminous and almost ethereal. Between the four pavilions they define, the glazing allows the interior entertainment to extend to the docksides. On the inside is an immense brightly-lit foyer, leading to a double-level street: as customers stroll along, the ambiance gradually darkens, ending in the complete darkness of the cinema auditoriums. The space extends, sweeping and comfortable, and once more adopts the site’s asymmetry.

From one end to the other, the ovum and UCG Max auditoriums match each other, covered in green copper. Contrasting with the walls inlaid with blue neon lights, their material nature proclaims itself, with interior events and urban signage. Combining light and matter, the multiplex stands out against the night-time darkness, its silhouette duplicated in a glowing reflection deep in the waters of the dock. Opening its dark auditoriums onto a large, bustling interior street, the UGC Ciné-Cité is reinventing the cinema outing, the cinema’s architecture combining with that of the screening.