Villa Arson

The Villa Arson was designed from 1962 by Michel Marot, architect and erstwhile student of Walter Gropius. Opened in 1972, it is one of the flagships of the 1960s architecture, close to the Modernist & new Brustalisme style. Implanted on a hill behind the city of Nice, France, the Villa occupies a vast domain of more than 2 ha overlooking the Bay of Angels, part of the French Riviera. The building is a registered 20th century heritage site. It is a one-of-a-kind national institution dedicated to the contemporary art in France which combines a National Contemporary Art Center, a National Art School, artists in residency programme and an art specialized library. The so-called Villa Arson "brutalist" architecture of the 1960'ss surrounds an 18th century Italian-style Villa in a little commonplace architectural ensemble: an interbreeding between the mineral and the vegetable, made of rough concrete walls partially covered with pebbles. This ambitious architectural project, which involves both labyrinth and fortress, is hallmarked by an austere grandeur. A monumental hall leads into the main building and continues in a central "street", punctuated with patios. This one connects the school of art, accommodated under steptype terraces, kinds of rooftop greenhouses, which protect the footprint and the remarkable trees admired by the first tourists. The Art Center and artists' residence get organized around the former summer garden. The whole domain is interspersed with site-specific artworks.