Seen from afar, the Frank Gehry designed Luma Arles Tower looks like a misshapen silver spire. Closer inspection reveals a stunning civic centrepiece, a structure that will become an arts centre housing artist studios, seminar rooms, workshops and research facilities. Like other Gehry structures, the 180 foot tower looks strikingly out of place next to its surroundings. Yet, there’s a method to the madness. The tower is clad in 11,000 aluminum panels irregularly arranged around the building’s steel frame deliberately designed to evoke the rugged limestone cliffs that surround the city. When the sun strikes the panels at a particular angle the facade shimmers. This is the place, after all, that attracted Van Gogh to sample the area’s bright light and vibrant colours. One critic has called the tower a stainless steel tornado. Some locals, on the other hand, have called it a crumpled soft drink can. You be the judge.
The tower sits on top of a cylindrical atrium which refers to another noteworthy Arles landmark, the Roman ampitheatre in the centre of town.
Luma Arles occupies an abandoned rail yard, soon to become a public park called the Parc des Ateliers or loosely translated as the workshop park. Construction on the Arles Tower began in 2014 and is scheduled to open this summer. The entire complex will open in 2021.
