A whole new quartier, La Constance, is being developed to the south west of the town: one of the first buildings to emerge will be SMAC, Salle des Musiques Actuelles du Pays d’Aix. And courtesy of architects Ricciotti-Battesti, this is what it will look like:
Interesting! The 2.8m euro building will be covered by a concrete shell to make it look like a rock, and vegetation will add a natural aspect. SMAC will be a venue for all sorts of music. Its main hall will take 1500 standing, while 400 will fit into a smaller one. There’ll be four rehearsal studios, a recording studio, dressing rooms, offices, 3 bars, and a shop.
The audience will probably in the most part be students from the University…it is thought that the new Aixpress bus will stop nearby and there are plans for a cycle track from the faculties. SMAC is slated to open ‘early 2019’.
La Constance is located on the other side of the A8 from the Fondation Vasarely.
It is a 98-hectare site, of which 60 hectares will be natural or planted spaces. Otherwise we can expect to see housing, shops, a crèche and school, cultural and sporting facilities, and small enterprises with an emphasis on digital start-ups, ‘French Tech’.
Like many part of Aix though, this is a sensitive site as a certain M. Cézanne liked to paint from here as it afforded good views of the Sainte-Victoire, the Pilon du Roi and the brand new viaduct taking the train-line into Aix. Plans to preserve these view-points will be the subject of another post.
Meanwhile here is a website for more info: http://www.laconstance.fr/ and an aerial view of the site.
aixcentric 
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