In the historic center of Cahors, Southern France, Antonio Virga Architecte transformed a former parking lot into a 7-screen cinema surrounded by a pedestrian square.
The location was historically the site of army barracks that were destroyed by a fire in 1943. Antonio Virga refers back to the symmetry and rigorous nature of a 19th century military facility and reinterpreted it into a monolithic elongated mass.
The building consists of two attached rectangular volumes. One brick volume facing the square and a gold powder-coated aluminium in the back. The brick volume mirrors the barracks and is imagined as a contemporary reinterpretation.
The front facade has a composition of closed and perforated brick surfaces. At night light sips through the creamy white bricks to attract passers-by from a distance. During the day the perforated skin creates an interplay of light and shadow in the interiors.
The project includes seven theaters that can seat 1,050 people, a lounge area and a museum space. The Museum of the Resistance, which was previously housed in a building demolished on the current site, will be relocated on the top level with a separate entrance.
