A Generation of Change: Cinema Project Positioned on a Historical District

"Le Sélect" Cinéma, by AIR Architecture
The district in which "Le Sélect" Cinéma is located, is a historical one, placed in front of the Fontainebleau Castle which was ordered by the young François Ier and is also known for having been the place where Napoleon bid farewell to his soldiers before leaving for Saint Helen.

"Le Sélect" Cinéma, is located on the opposite side of the castle of François 1er and is a part of a protected area from the 18th century. The cinema will have four rooms that houses 800 spectators.

The project is a product of a very long process of discussion and negotiations with the local associations, the mayor of the city and the architects of the Ministry of Culture (including the minister himself, Frederic Mitterrand).

As it sits right in the city center, next to hotels built in the late 18th century, the idea is to give an achievement to the succession of Hotel courtyards by doing the white cubicle which house the staircase. On the other side, the volume of the rooms of the cinema is in a clear manner exposed and put into a scene. This volume is an answer to the late 19th century building that sits across the street.

About Air-Architecture

AIR Architecture's work is focused on a generation of change. Far from the silence of conceptual Universalism, they want an architecture to be materialized, joyous and playful, driven by passion and freed from any moral aesthetics. Having a fascination beyond technology, AIR Architecture believes that the individual takes place at the center of an architecture. These create "situations" that trigger active behavior, to overcome the traditional creative fields of architecture.