An archive building on the edge of Paris to house Albert Kahn's collection of photographs of everyday life all over the world

On the edge of Paris, in Boulogne Billancourt, is a small museum dedicated to the body of ideas of Albert Kahn. A banker by profession, he would have been long forgotten had he not channelled his vast fortune into a unique project, 'Les Archives de la planète'. It was Kahn's wish to capture in photographs everyday life among peoples all over the world. Between 1912 and 1932 he had a team of photographers travelling the globe. With the images they collected Kahn wished to give people an insight into other cultures and so create peace and understanding. The archive consists of some 72,000 autochromes, 4000 stereographs and more than 200 hours of film footage. On his own travels Kahn collected a wealth of flora which he replanted in his vast garden. He used to invite influential people of the day to view his collection, many of whom were photographed there. The secluded garden, which is exactly the same as it was when Kahn was alive, reinforces the Utopian character of that place.

After Khan's death in 1940, the archive was moved to the Centre National de la Cinematographie. As archive and garden are indelibly linked with each other and with Kahn's history, my project seeks to return the archive to its original site. The designed building is to do duty as a home base for the archive. Here Khan's collection of images will be protected, digitized, duplicated and sent out into the world. I have also made room in it for small exhibitions, opportunities for study and a screening room.

In the project the home base is sited at the place of the current museum, principally so as not to make inroads on the garden. Kahn's garden almost abuts the street at this point. The new building is to present a wall between garden and city as well as being the entrance. These, then, defined the stepping-off points for my design: the building was to be an archive, a wall and a gateway.

The building consists of 14 concrete supports which together constitute the backbone of the design. They hold the building in place, contain service ducts and act as heat buffers. Climate control figures prominently in the design so as to give the archive maximum protection. A climate-modifying skin of etched glass slats which can be opened and closed envelops the entire building. The gateways are two metres apart to let in daylight and give the archive a public character. The concrete is specially treated so that the play of shadow has a visual effect on it. The etched glass only leaves the contours visible, like shades from the past.

A large trapezium-shaped cut in the structure is the way in to the garden, the false perspective stressing the transition from reality to Utopia. You have to pass through the gateway and the garden to enter the building. This has four levels, with the archives occupying the fourth. Below it are the study areas, offices, auditorium, multimedia library, shop, restaurant and exhibition area. Wells created between the concrete supports extend up all four levels and deliver daylight into the building.

It was during the quest which began with a study into the influence of image on society and architecture, that I came across Albert Kahn. I was immediately drawn to his optimism and his ideas about using images to change the world. After visiting the garden on several occasions and then acquainting myself better with his life, this building has become not just an archive but, in a sense, a monument to the man himself.

Place of education: AvB Arnhem | Specialization: architecture | Tutors: Marc Maurer, Wim Korvinus, Ralph Brodrück, Annemariken Hilberink