The site of a former rail depot in the French city of Arles has been given a new lease of life thanks to an ambitious redevelopment project that involves a number of interesting figures, including starchitect Frank Gehry. The new LUMA Arles complex will house an art center, research lab, and atelier in hopes of attracting artists and big thinkers to the region. Six existing industrial buildings onsite are being converted and restored to house exhibition spaces by Selldorf Architects, while Gehry?s master plan revolves around the creation of a ?resource center,” which will measure 56 meters in height and overlook Victor Hugo Avenue below.

The resource center, a series of towers that twist and contort around each other and are to be clad in Gehry?s trademark silver skin, was designed to echo the mountainous terrain surrounding the site and will be stepped and staggered at several points, requiring observation from many different angles to get a true reading. The landscaping will be designed by Bas Smets, who will be responsible for the creation of a new public park within which the redevelopment will sit. Construction of the project is well underway, with some of the existing railroad buildings already having been successfully converted into art and exhibition spaces. These warehouses have been stripped back to their former glory and renovated in part to accommodate the brief’s various requirements.
The entire project is being led by Swiss collector Maja Hoffman...