Comédie de Genève

Location in an urban setting

In keeping with the concept of the local master plan, the building of the New Comedy is positioned alongside the covered quay station of CEVA (the Cornavin – Eaux-Vives – Annemasse) railroad link much like a docked ship.

The building thus affords easy, differentiated access from each side at the two main levels of the site: The “quay” side, its entrance area opening toward the public Esplanade, the “lower” side serving for physical access from the local line.

The New Comedy Theater

By placing this cultural edifice in mid-town at the terminal of the new Gare des Eaux-Vives railroad station, the New Comedy of Geneva project plays a leading role in Geneva’s cultural life on both a local and regional scale.

The project was to create the evocative image of a theater building recognizable by its volumetric substance and its physiognomy: a compact body and figure emblematic of the theater stage.

Rather than being a black box, this institution with its many windows opens itself up toward the city. The breakthroughs (from very small to very large) and varied sinuosities mark the permeability between the dramatic space and that of daily life.

The multitude of openings also illustrates the excitement of theater life and that of all its participants. Like a bee-hive, the New Comedy is a part of the life of the city.

Construction and materials

The building is of a compact, solid design, built of textured concrete in 3 types of implementation at 3 main levels. On the inside the successive layers set themselves apart from a monolithic appearance by virtue of a modulation of the concrete.

The two lower layers consist of insulating Misapor concrete. These layers are highlighted by inlays of small terra cotta or metal fragments. The two upper extensions consist of Litracon translucide concrete roughstone (a mixture of concrete and translucent fiber), conferring lightness to the rising walls while after dark sparkling with the scintillation of night life.

This stratification mirrors the transformation of the Gare des Eaux-Vives railroad station, with its size from the underground CEVA, the shopping mall, the entrances to the above-ground facilities. The recessed or flush glass panels reveal the porosity of the edifice, while the façade displays the shadows, reflections and scintillations by day and by night.