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by Alfonso Femia (Author)
The large building, today known as Les Docks, designed by Gustave Desplaces and constructed between 1858 and 1864 on the model of the warehouses in the docklands of London, looks like a stone ship looming over the wharves of the port of Marseille.
Rightly or wrongly, its designer is credited with the idea of having associated the construction with a symbolic and imaginative calendar: 365 meters in length, the number of days in a year, four courtyards, like the seasons, fifty-two doors, and seven stories... Urban myth or the truth? What is certain is that esoteric symbolism and a taste for numbers were often the prerogative of master builders and architects and undoubtedly fascinate the Italians Alfonso Femia and Gianluca Peluffo of 5+1AA. Their renowned ability to bring together the know-how of artisans, artists, contractors, and suppliers of materials has produced a remarkable aesthetic result, in which color and material articulate the internal spaces, animated by stores, restaurants, and offices.Author Biography
Alfonso Femia and Gianluca Peluffo are the founders of the 5+1AA studio. In 2006 they founded a studio in Milan devoted to the study of and experimentation on the contemporary city. In 2007 they opened 5+1 Agence d'Architecture in Paris and drew up the master plan with which Milan was awarded at Expo 2015. In 2012 they finished the plans for the new headquarters of the Italian Space Agency in Rome. In 2014 they won the competition for the renovation of the head offices of the Banca d'Italia in Rome.
