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The naturalistic design of

THE ORPHEUS CENTER

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The Orpheus Project

Architectural Project

Flashback to an auspicious event in spring 2000, when I had the privilege of meeting Los Angeles producer Fred C. Caruso, during the filming of Deuces Wild. Personally and professionally, this was an auspicious meeting, one of these special encounters that occur only very rarely in a lifetime!

His friendly voice is still beckoning me: " No place exists right now that will house such a fantastic experience. You must build it! ".

We visited Fred Caruso in 2000 to present him our project of multimedia staged spectacle whose frame should be a film. He immediately embraced the concept and wondered, at that time, whether or not there was a suitable location for a project of this size. He concluded: "no place exists, right now!" Back in France, Dominique worked on the preliminary technical studies, based on my initial drawings. We later invited a Swiss team of architects and engineers from Geneva— De Planta & Portier Architectes, Guscetti & Tournier Ingénierie Civile Limited —to participate in development of the amphitheater and stage from which the entire healing complex evolves. All these individual and collective labors have gradually advanced my vision. A detailed plan materialized, in collaboration with Dominique, and the Swiss team tweaked the form and function of my design. In this process, I wanted to ensure congruity of the center with the first symbols that intuitively guided my design. In December 2007, Benoit Guiguet created the first 3D model. I then focused entirely on the 3D Project for the Orpheus Center between January 2008 until Spring 2010. With the assistance of Michel Ramillon, we transferred data from Allplan 3D planning and design software to Carrara Pro Version 6.2 and SktechUp Pro Version 6.4. Et voila, a new adventure began.

A remark from Dominique Julliard, architect: According to my sensitivity - and what I have learned and realized - a building, whatever it is, must respond positively to 3 criteria, in the following order: 1 - Be "readable": whether designed for private or collective housing, administration, art, industry, religion, or government. A building is a living being, and must be "decoded" in a first approach (encounter), just as you would when meeting a person: is the individual male or female, young or old, open or closed, sad or happy? So, the goal is not to shock or disrupt, but to just be, and be in its proper place. 2 - Be integrated into the context, the environment, and enrich and beautify it; 3 - Answer the question: for what? What is the program, the purpose? What can we expect to find there... how can we make people want to enter it with an attitude of “tell me more.” The development of innovative techniques has, in recent years, tempted architects and engineers to propose sensational shapes, most of which do not meet any of these three criteria.

On the other hand, The Orpheus Center seems to me to perfectly meet the 3 criteria: it has a majestic, very dynamic central element (the veil); the building sits in nature, away from the stresses of modern life, and is enriched by the traffic that provides access to it (train, shuttles, pedestrians); a rich, open, protected welcome area (the station and the esplanade).

First 3D Model: here we started…

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Within my architectural layout, symbols seemed to magically manifest—bringing flow and balance to my design. Symbolizing meaningful growth, spiral nautilus pathways guide visitors into and around this center for healing. Complementing the sphenoid as a focal point, a propeller represents the flow of life. Other significant symbols revealed themselves as my design evolved.

After rendering 3D images of my architectural plan, I was compelled to superimpose an image of the human skull (endobasis) over the drawing. This experimentation revealed eyes within the glazed dome, a nose (voile), and mouth (departure station). The symbol integration was also apparent with the mandelbrot. These unexpected revelations brought excitement to the design process.

A structural engineer proposed a self-supporting, lightweight yet solid voile shaped as a saddle (hyperbolic parabola). This huge matrix canopies the entire amphitheater and stage, and alludes to the sella turcica. The backdrop is shaped as a half cupola, which responds to the voile.

Numerous foyers extending from the amphitheater connect to the lateral wings. At this point, my design for this harmonious, healing complex comprises a magnificent, multi-level, multimedia amphitheater, a vast healthcare and resource center, onsite accommodation, catering facilities, a magnetic levitation transport shuttle, and elaborate exterior landscaping.

"It is the peculiar task of architecture to reach meaning" Romaldo Giurgola, Romaldo (Aldo) Giurgola, born on September 2, 1920 in Rome and died in Canberra on May 16, 2016, is an architect, university professor and Italian-American-Australian writer."

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