100 Lock Cabins (with Bernhard Buchberger)

Rhône - Rhine canal, France

Architects: Moussafir Architectes

Competition; winning project, unbuilt.

The canal linking the Rhône to the Rhine has about 100 locks in the process of being mechanized. Cabins are required to shelter hydraulic machinery and operators; these small buildings would also serve as information points for canal users and hikers. We designed them as habitable sculptures in the form of two large «pebbles» polished by river erosion. They are simultaneously items of landscape furniture, pieces of minimalist architecture, and technological facilities. The way the two components are assembled varies each time, forming a sequence of monoliths dotted along the canal. Each cabin has a service module anchored to the ground, pointing north like a sundial, with a second module attached to it containing the control terminal. The structure of both modules is comprised of prefabricated ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) panels assembled on site. Rotating the control module around the service module produces 26 different configurations, such that one can always be aligned with the canal while the other indicates the north-south axis. The way the cabins vary in texture and geometry reflects the contrast between the continuity of canal navigation and the diversity of the surrounding landscape.