Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe: Longchamps’ $145M revamp | CNN

Paris' Longchamp racecourse hosts one of the world's most famous horse races -- the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. The site currently houses two huge grandstands -- side by side -- built in the 1960s. This computer-generated image (and the ones which follow) show how the new design will transform the site when completed.

The new design which will replace the old stands is the work of Dominique Perrault. The Paris-based architect has designed iconic structures all over the world and was awarded the Praemium Imperiale -- an annual prize awarded by the Japanese Art Association. Click here to see more of his work.

The existing grandstands at Longchamp are packed in the first weekend of October for the running of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe -- the richest flat race on turf in the world.

Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images/file

But for the remainder of the year, the stands remain largely empty -- around 30 race meetings are held annually at Longchamp, attracting just a few thousand spectators each time.

Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images/file

Perrault's new design includes just one grandstand but will be "transparent," he says, affording views both east and west.<br />"The building has two faces -- one in front of the race and one behind," he says.

Perrault's new design includes just one grandstand but will be "transparent," he says, affording views both east and west.
"The building has two faces -- one in front of the race and one behind," he says.

"On each plateau you have some services -- clubs, hospitality space, restaurants -- but you can see in all directions," Perrault explains.

"The horse-racing side looks out to the east onto Paris, the Eiffel Tower. To the west, you have the River Seine and very nice landscape, a park."

"The idea is you walk on a different plateau and the view on either side is uninterrupted -- like a fluid promenade," he says. <br />Some of the building's architectural details will also echo its natural surroundings. <br />"We have a lot of references to the nature around," Perrault said. <br />"We designed a handrail with a pattern print like a part of the forest. Also we developed some points in the concrete where we printed the scenes of the wood in the 19th century."

"The idea is you walk on a different plateau and the view on either side is uninterrupted -- like a fluid promenade," he says.
Some of the building's architectural details will also echo its natural surroundings.
"We have a lot of references to the nature around," Perrault said.
"We designed a handrail with a pattern print like a part of the forest. Also we developed some points in the concrete where we printed the scenes of the wood in the 19th century."

Perrault's design was chosen from a shortlist of six. The renovation plan was agreed by France Galop -- the country's horse racing governing body -- in 2011, but funding issues and doubts over Longchamp's viability as a year-round race venue have delayed construction until now.

The project has an estimated cost of €130 million ($145m), Perrault says. Building work is set to get underway after this year's "Arc" and is scheduled to be completed in 2017.
In 2016, the historic race will be held at Chantilly, 50 kilometers north of Paris.

Longchamp redesign

Story highlights

Longchamp race track undergoes major rebuild

Paris track home to Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe

Bold design created by Dominique Perrault

CNN —

It hosts one of the most glamorous days on the sporting calendar, but Paris’ Longchamp racecourse has long been in need of a makeover.

Next month, following the conclusion of Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, work will start on a project that owner France Galop hopes will transform the appearance of the historic horse racing venue and secure its financial future.

Architect Dominique Perrault’s futuristic new stand design incorporates “transparent shelves,” replacing two rather tired main grandstands.

Erected in the early 1960s, the stands have always felt slightly at odds with their surroundings in the Bois de Boulogne, an 850-hectare public park on the French capital’s western fringes.

The new building and overall redesign is costing €130 million ($145 million) and will feel less alien in the setting, Perrault insists.

“Everybody is happy with the project because it has got more green space,” Perrault told CNN.

“For me, I like the relationship between the architecture and nature – it’s very smooth, very delicate and poetic also.”

A series of concrete plateaus will house restaurants, bars and terraced hospitality spaces with panoramic views.

“You can see in all directions,” the Paris-based architect explains.

“The trackside looks out to the east onto Paris, the Eiffel Tower. To the west, you have the Seine river and a park. The idea is you walk on a different plateau and the view on either side is uninterrupted like a fluid promenade.”

Service buildings currently scattered around the site will also be demolished and rebuilt as pavilions, while the racecourse’s historic structures will be renovated.

Much of Perrault’s previous work has focused on harmonizing the relationship between buildings and the natural environment.

His design for the French National Library, completed in 1989, incorporates a sunken courtyard populated with trees.

Perrault’s EWHA Women’s University campus in Seoul, South Korea, also blurs the lines between city spaces and natural landscapes, creating a single area that accommodates both study and recreation.

“The building disappears – it has some roots and these roots connect the building with nature,” he says.

France Galop, French horse racing’s governing body, is banking on the new pared-down facility to attract more racegoers year-round rather than just during “Arc” weekend, when 50,000 punters pack the stands for the world’s richest turf event.

Building work means that next year’s race will be run at Chantilly, 50 kilometers north of Paris, before returning to the newly configured Longchamp in 2017.

The EWHA Womens University in Seoul, South Korea. One of Dominique Perrault's key aims as an architect is to bring harmony to the relationship between buildings and their surroundings.

Completed in 2008, the university campus attempts to fuse the urban and natural space together.

The roof of the campus doubles as a place of recreation for students.

Perrault's French National Library in Paris was completed in 1995. The building is made up of four 79-meter high towers that were designed to look like open books.

At the center of the complex lies a sunken courtyard populated with trees. "The building blends with nature," Perrault notes. "In Paris, one has the impression that the garden of the Library is at the level of the River Seine, but in fact, it is 10 meters lower.

"One almost feels that the garden was there before the building and that the Library somehow protects it," Perrault says.

"This relationship with the earth is complex, and it contradicts the usual Modernist tenets."

Berlin's Velodrome and Olympic Swimming Pool continue Perrault's sunken motif, with both structures (the swimming pool is in the background) "immersed" and flanked by an apple orchard.

Construction on the Berlin project took seven years and was completed in 1999. Perrault also designed the Olympic Tennis Center in Madrid which was built as part of the Spanish capital's 2016 Olympic bid.