A single, raised terrace - the lake on the horizon nothing but a straight line from one end of the pitch to the other, separating it from the sky.
Above, at each end, two vestibules frame the view over the Alps and the natural geographical monument of the Mont-Blanc.
There exists a phenomenon unique to the Lake Geneva – the distant landscape appears, little by little, its outlines slowly taking shape, or it disappears, depending on the weather and the time of day, and these daily physical variations and the changes in luminosity which unveil them are absorbed by the architecture. Glass, aluminium and stone make up the surfaces of the edifice. Their reflections and textures diffuse the site’s gradual metamorphoses.
The architecture’s conception grew from these impressions. Its design, its spaces and its materials all generate a different way of seeing and perceiving the nature of this scenery and its various manifestations.

© Patrick Berger

1994

1999