encore heureux: cine 32, france

‘cine 32’ by encore heureaux, auchs,gers, france image © sébastien normand all images courtesy of encore heureaux

paris-based architects at encore heureux consistently find design synthesis through poignant and standout collaborations. their bold sensibility finds its way into a the 850-seat ‘cine 32‘, an art house movie theater on the site of a former military camp in the auch, the historical capital of french gascony. the five stadium-style rooms are an adventurous foray into the collective joy of movie-going, architecturally expressed in bold color and honest materials. the downtown building had to straddle an aesthetic that both appealed to an always-mixed public and showed a streamlined sense of individualism.

a view of the movie theater in contextimage © sébastien normand

the result is an architecture that puts the traditional forms of pedimented tobacco dryers, seen widely in southwestern france, in dialogue with the graphic signage of contemporary artist bonnefritte. the ‘headlining’ sign dances with gestures of neon along the main street, joyfully hand-painted and unabashedly present. the curved, peaked projection rooms are additionally clad in a wooden skin fixed into geometric patterns. cinema affords architecture the complex and unique opportunity to create spaces of collective discovery and make atmospheres for a specialized public that is embarking on an unusual journey, it is only so appropriate the the building matches the exuberance of the endeavor.

the hand-painted signage is tempered by a graduated wooden skin image © sébastien normand