JEAN-MARIE TJIBAO CULTURAL CENTER

THE HARMONY OF TRADITION AND TECHNOLOGY


"In the quest for identity, you must always look forwards, never backwards… our identity lies ahead of us." Jean-Marie Tjibaou.

Jean-Marie Tjibaou believed in the future, and its possibilities. He urged the Kanak people to embrace it, to find their sense of self in a fine balance between Kanak history and the ways of the modern world.

This however was not a simple proposition, and perhaps it never will be. The Kanakis understand life in harmony with the earth, wind, and sky, their "culture is primarily expressed through the works of nature.", yet they wanted to be recognized in a contemporary society. Hoping to educate the public in their traditions, beliefs, and artwork, the Kanakis of New Caledonia wanted a cultural centre that would become self-reflective, a place both grounded in its roots and at the same moment finding its place in a modern world, as Jean-Marie Tjibaou had preached. Along the southern coast of New Caledonia, and to the east of the city of Nouméa, on Tina Peninsula the site, is carefully inserted between the thunderous Pacific Ocean and the quiet lagoon, situated in the ‘wild’, separate from civilization.
It was Renzo Piano who won the honours of master coordinator to reconcile nature and technology.

He wanted to create "an architecture that genuinely expresses itself between the assertion of the old, reliable values and the exploration of the new in the spirit of the time."

Piano suggested that his lack of knowledge and experience with the Kanak people could actually help the project. He would be a clean slate, free of any political bias, or pre-determined design concepts. He wanted to "try to understand how it (culture) was born, why it has gone in a certain direction, what philosophy of life has shaped it."

He did not want to simply produce a tourist destination like so many other cultural centres, but instead a "place that would represent them (the Kanakis) to foreigners and that would pass on their memory to the grandchildren".

Piano felt he could achieve this architectural masterpiece by "finding the gestalt", the personality of the site and its context through a full understanding of the Kanak "local culture, buildings and nature." Instead of introducing universal building standards, he wanted to produce a "symbiotic relationship with the vernacular" so he proposed that "True universality in architecture can be attained only through connection with the roots, gratitude for the past, and respect for the genius loci."

In studying the photos and drawings, many techniques become apparent in the formation of the gestalt of the site and its people. First of all the complex is approached by a meandering ‘Kanak path’ on the north side of the site, and a series of gardens, allowing the Kanak culture to be first communicated to visitors through nature, namely the plant life specific to the region. The centre itself is broken down into three main categories: performance art hall, artwork + galleries, and reading + research, which are further divided into three clusters, invoking the planning of a traditional village in the layout of the program’s main elements.

Here is Jean-Marie Tjibaou’s statement, "our identity lies ahead of us." Everything seems to fit together, producing a finished project that expresses the history of the Kanak culture in an intelligent, contemporary format. Or does it?

The conflict of joining tradition and modernity is an obvious one, but not so easily resolved. As one begins to study the project in more depth, considering such things as materials and the construction techniques, the theories begin to feel incomplete. The term vernacular begins to have more than one definition. Vernacular seems to be understood as
1. The environmental context of the site,
2. The architectural style that expresses the culture and traditions of the Kanak people.
That is, the expression of the place and people are separated. Although Renzo Piano and the Kanak people "hail the building as the first piece of architecture representing Pacific culture", one cannot help but feel it falls short of the claims. Although successful as a modern ‘green architecture’ building there is a "crisis of the opposition between what is said and what is done."Maybe it is impossible to create a perfect balance of tradition and innovation.

Perhaps its most triumphant attribute, the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre clearly articulated and manipulated the region’s bio-climatic typology to achieve a high level of human comfort. Recognizing the need for passive cooling, the entire program becomes dictated by wind and sun orientation, and the shape of the facade is created not as an aesthetic mask, but as a fully functioning passive system. The study of seasonal monsoon storms with a wind tunnel determined that the shell-like curve was best for resisting the 240-km/hr forces and created a ‘voice’ for the buildings.

It is in the interpretation of vernacular typology that many conflicts arise. Piano insists that context means, "history and nature co-exist"., they must work together, but it is here that there are both strong successes and failures in attempting to harmonize the two. In understanding the construction of a typical Kanak hut, Piano formed his own ‘huts’, curving the entire structure, with all vertical elements ascending towards a central point.

However, while many see the sculptured shells as a modern interpretation of tradition, others question it authenticity because the shells lack the fundamental centrepost which in "many Pacific societies the centrepost is identified with the leader." Viewed as possibly the most important element of a Kanak hut Piano chose to remove it, perhaps the subtle suggestion of the centrepost was more important to him than actually constructing one.

Textures and the idea of a woven skin are also interpreted by Piano into horizontal and vertical louvers. This is a convincing imitation of the thatched palm roofs even though it is transparent and heavier than that of the original, and looses its free formation to a methodical pattern.
The facade essentially is a double skin providing a large air space between the "woven" woodwork and the glass-encased galleries, forming the ‘stack effect’. During the day hot air rises out of the space while cool air is drawn into replace it.

The roof of the curved structure also acts as a double skin, where air can freely circulate. "The openings in the other shell have been arranged to exploit the monsoon winds coming from the sea, or to induce the desired convection
currents." Depending on the force of the wind, whether a light breeze or a heavy storm, skylights will open or close accordingly, to maintain balanced air pressure. Essentially the building works to continuously find a balance with nature.

Shading is also an important factor in the design’s ability to cool spaces, mainly through the use of overhangs and landscaping the pathways, terraces, and gardens are kept cool and comfortable for visitors.

Rationalizing the electronically controlled ventilation system in terms of exploiting and benefiting from site conditions seems to be justifiable, except it goes against the understanding of vernacular typology. Is Piano "forget (ting) that indigenous people enjoy their climate?" It seems in a sense that Piano has failed to escape from the standards of European and North American travelers, where air conditioning is expected. To this sense the "rationale is obsolete", the building was built not for Kanakis at all, but for the average middle class tourist. Yes, this was part of the main purpose of the cultural centre, ‘build and the people will come’, welcoming foreigners in hopes of teaching them about Kanakis culture. However, would it not then be important to experience through the senses other than sight, how it feels to be inside a Kanak hut on a hot day? Was it not once said, "When in Rome do as the Romans do?"
Considering the use of materials is another sensitive subject. Employing both "laminated wood and natural wood, concrete and coral, aluminum castings and glass panels, tree bark and stainless steel"18 does indeed create "richness and complexity of detail" , but at the expense of the true vernacular.

The wood itself is Iroko, or "imported mahogany from Africa"and was "pre-fabricated in France". Why was not a local material used? Sure the logic accepted to excuse the imported wood seems valid enough; it is termite proof, will age to a silvery gray colour like the trunks of the Norfolk Island pines, is incredibly strong against the winds and is produced solely for manufacturing purposes, but using this foreign wood does not mimic traditional construction materials. Is the integrity of the design worth the sacrifice of the context? Piano obviously believed so.

Returning however to the environmental conscious of the building it is unfortunate that more care was not given to the collection of rain water for agricultural use, or perhaps the installation of a composting program. Though the centre does have gardens that grow local vegetables and plants, there is no particular message about taking care of the land for future generations. Perhaps the impact of the building itself stands alone to teach present Kanakis and visitors about the importance of taking care of the earth and the possibility of building a modern structure that is beautiful and sustainable.

Even the surrounding landscaping is subtle, having planted Norfolk Island pine on the site several years previous to the centre’s construction, and fitting the building in among existing eucalyptus trees, creates the illusion that nature was untouched by the building. The building’s ability to blend and sink into its topography also suggests the capacity to which existing plant life can dictate the shape and configuration of architecture.

On a broader scale the general principles employed in attaining passive ventilation at the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre are common to many architects and are adaptable to many different climates. However without the particular situation of ever-present ocean winds, the success of such a sensitive system would be drastically decreased. The basic principles of passive cooling, including adequate overhangs and vegetative shading are practical in any climatic zone where cooling interior spaces is a concern.

In closing, designing a building to express the harmony of a historical culture with the modern language was never meant to be an easy task. How does one go about doing it? As Piano stressed, "architectural invention cannot ignore history, tradition, or the context of construction." Perhaps this is true, but rather the choices and sacrifices of components in order to achieve a unified whole. Balance must come through negotiating; it is a game of compromise
And decision making. Maybe nature and tradition can never really be completely reconciled with modern technology. Instead the architect has to make choices, maybe this is the truth of J-M T.C.C., that it is not a perfectly equal balance of nature and technology, but that through intuitive selection of one detail or movement over another voices a memory of the past and a hope for the future.

Unfortunately it is also true that until we are able to experience such a masterpiece in it full capacity, we can never fully appreciate or understand its strength as an expression of tradition and technology.

Text by : Alana Young

Image Source : RPBW