When the Luma Foundation in Arles, France begins construction on a large complex of buildings next year in the Parc des Ateliers, everyone's focus will be on two massive metal towers that will house the Foundation’s headquarters — and not just because at 56 and 37 meters high (184 and 121 feet) they will dwarf everything in the area. Frank Gehry's designs for the buildings call for the use of aluminum foam, a honeycomb-structured metal that he discovered about 15 years ago and which has never before been used for an architectural project.

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The aluminum foam is a military product used in the doors of Humvees to protect them from the effects of a blast. It is very resistant and resembles large dented cinder blocks. Gehry decided to keep its texture and its original color so that the material would protect the interior space from sun and reflect light. He also chose it as a complement to the existing industrial architecture of the location, telling ARTINFO France, "This material is very safe, light, entirely recyclable and solid. We love its texture and its quality, and we were looking for an industrial equivalent for the Parc des Ateliers environment," which includes 19th-century railroad buildings. As an added bonus, the towers’ bumpy look is reminiscent of the geology of the region, with its rugged limestone landscape.

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Presented first in July at Paris’s Pavillon de l’Arsenal and then in late August at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the project is part of a planned complex of buildings including both new and old constructions. Project planners include the Luma Foundation leadership, Frank Gehry and Gehry Partners LLP, the Belgian landscape designer Bas Smets, and the Core Group, a committee of international experts brought together for this purpose and made up of Tom Eccles, co-director of Bard Colleges Center for Curatorial Studies, Hans Ulrich Obrist, co-director of London’s Serpentine Gallery, Beatrix Ruf, director of Zurich’s Kunsthalle, and the artists Philippe Parrena, Liam Gillick, and Peter Fischli.

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The Luma Foundation was established by Maja Hoffmann in 2004 and plans for its new headquarters in the Parc des Ateliers have been in the works since 2007. The ambitious complex will feature a research laboratory, a space for public debate, a center for conferences, events, and exhibitions, and the Winter School, an art school with doctorate-level courses. The site’s Great Hall already boasts a marvelous renovation by the French firm Moatti and Rivière for the renowned photography festival Rencontres d’Arles. The site will also feature a public garden, restaurant, and library.

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A quiet southern town, Arles is not used to having such massive and avant-garde structures in its midst. But Gehry told ARTINFO France, "I didn’t design these towers at all for shock-value. There was already a tower on the site that was taken down." He added, "I am very excited to design new and innovative architecture that will be integrated into the landscape, to capture the spirit of the past. And I don’t just want to build something pretty. I want to create a new aesthetic and make it a unique place."

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Gehry is very attached to the Arles project for personal reasons. Having lived in France during the 1960s, he remembers following in Cézanne’s footsteps in the Aix-en-Provence region. An art lover and connoisseur, Gehry studied ceramics when he was young and frequented the studios of many artists, including sculptor Richard Serra and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.

The public will have to wait patiently for the fulfillment of this perhaps utopian project, whose completion is planned for 2016. In the meantime, the 81-year-old Gehry is still working with researchers to test the durability and other properties of this extraordinary metal, which, as he explained in an interview, may possibly turn green if organisms make their homes in its nooks and crannies.

For a video of Gehry discussing the project and its innovative material at the Venice Biennale, see below:

 
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