Metz Arsenal

The Metz Arsenal began as a military arsenal, built between 1861 and 1863 on the site of the former citadel, at the southern edge of the old town centre. It stands beside the basilica of Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains, the great storehouse, the military governor's palace and what is now the Lorraine school of art. The city acquired the building in 1971; at first destined for demolition, it was kept after local residents mobilised to save it.

The conversion went to Ricardo Bofill after an international competition launched in 1984, with five entrants, among them the Metz architect Jean-Louis Jolin. The brief plainly asked for the spirit of the place to be preserved, and most competitors kept all the existing buildings; Bofill instead transformed the arsenal deeply and reshaped the site's topography. As lead architect, he carried the project out with three associate architects based in Metz: Albert Longo, and Jean-Luc Gibert and Gérard Hypolite, who founded the firm Gibert-Hypolite. Delivered in 1989, it is the first of Bofill's few works made by transforming an existing building, and the first of his performing-arts halls.

In January 2024 the Metz city council decided to give the Arsenal the name of Jean-Marie Rausch, elected mayor in 1971, who died on 5 January 2024.

Bofill's scheme rests on a reversal. The nineteenth-century arsenal was arranged around a central courtyard, in a U-shaped plan open towards avenue Ney, and its main block was sunk into ground that, at the heart of the citadel, stands eight metres above the avenue. Bofill demolished that main wing and opened the building on the other side, towards the inside of the citadel. He used the slope: it gave him 8 of the 15 metres of height the main hall needed. He also freed the Templars' chapel, previously caught in a corner of the building, and gave the basilica of Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains a staged setting. The north wing's ramp was removed in favour of a broad flight of steps, aligned with the chapel, between the Arsenal and the neighbouring art school.

The building now sits within a rectangle of 90 by 45 metres, in a U plan: the long central block, on avenue Ney, houses the great hall; the north wing holds the Esplanade hall and the south wing the Governor's Studio. The pavilion on the avenue is extended to meet both wings, whose straight hipped ends give way to pedimented gables. Throughout there are two storeys under gabled zinc roofs. The façades stack arcades on the ground floor and windows above them, divided by a wide string course; a cladding of pale stone, whose coursing draws out pilasters and simplified capitals, covers them entirely, and Jaumont stone picks out the plinth, the arcades up to the entablature, and the round arches and their keystones. The structure is rubble masonry in the old parts and reinforced concrete in the new.

The main hall lies beneath the raised courtyard, which opens to the west. Fifteen metres high, it sinks into the ground over two of its three levels. It is a plain rectangular block whose bays match exactly those of the U-shaped building. Visitors enter from above, through a perimeter gallery level with the great hall: it serves the tiered seating on either side of the stage and the balconies along the long sides. On every wall, beech and sycamore marquetry, divided by bronze rods, makes a neoclassical decor. The stage is framed by two projecting bays with columns, two storeys high and three bays wide. In the ceiling, deep acoustic coffers follow the grid of the bays and also carry the lighting. The hall is conceived as an urban room surrounded by façades, in the manner of ancient theatres, and it is recognised for its acoustics.

The Arsenal has three halls for acoustic and amplified music. The Grande Salle seats 1311 and the Esplanade hall 352. The Governor's Studio was used above all for rehearsals, dance workshops and other artistic practice; since 2013 it has also been equipped for amplified music. The programme runs from jazz to symphonic music, taking in baroque, chamber music and dance.

The building also houses an exhibition gallery devoted to photography, with 115 linear metres of display space, and the Claude Lefebvre lounge on the second floor, whose windows look out on both the Esplanade garden and place de la République. The Orangerie hall, on the same floor, opens directly onto the large terrace, which looks towards the Templars' chapel and Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains. A music shop and a bar complete the venue.

The building is open Tuesday to Saturday from 1 pm to 6 pm, and one hour before each performance; the Cité musicale-Metz box office is there. Guided visits can be arranged on request. The Arsenal is at 3 avenue Ney, Metz.