Bordeaux, France
Designed by European 40 Under 40 laureate Clément Miglierina of elua architectes, the nautical base “Moby Dick” purpose is to shelter the shipbuilding and repair activities.
Clément Miglierina was recently awarded a 2020 European 40 Under 40 Award from The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum.
The studio imagined Bordeaux’s wet docks’ new nautical base as an urban connection, conversing with the larger scale of maritime territory.
Inspired by the Dazzle camouflage used by the Allies during the two world wars, the metal frontage divides the building and blurs its contour’s physical limits.
Moby Dick becomes an optical compression, visible from afar, a graphic architecture signaling its activities and a visual artifact capable of disappearing in its environment.
It is also a necessary response to the German submarine base’s historical and oppressive presence.
Moby Dick relies on its local and environmentally friendly robust wood frame to devour many ships and fulfill environmental requirements.
In designing Moby Dick, elua places the human hand at the center of the program highlights the site’s historical activity, and imagines the nautical base like a promise for the future.
Clément Miglierina’s Moby Dick
Project: Moby Dick
Architects: Clément Miglierina, elua architectes
Client: Fayat Immobilier + Pitch Promotion
