Cultural and Congress Centre in Lucerne, Switzerland

The complex is distinguished by two glass-clad, prismatic volumes, which provide protective enclosures for the structures within. Set asymmetrically in the larger prism is an auditorium with seating for 1,828 people. The smaller volume houses a congress hall. All other facilities are accommodated in the plinth structure. The two layer facades are supported by a huge, tilted steel skeleton-frame structure, the members of which have rhombus-shaped cross-sections. The facade skins consist of curved, reeded laminated glass segments externally and flat sandblasted panes of glass internally. The spaces between the two-layer facades and the halls serve as brightly lit, neutral foyer and circulation zones, with individual windows affording glimpses of the mountains and the sea.