Theater
Bâtiment des Forces Motrices
Former hydraulic power station reborn as an all-timber opera and concert hall on the Rhône.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Batiment des Forces Motrices in Geneva starts with an abandoned pumping station on the Rhone, built between 1883 and 1892 by the engineer Theodore Turrettini to drive the city's water supply before falling silent in the 1960s. It follows the 1997 plan to borrow the empty machine hall as a temporary opera stage while the Grand Theatre closed for renovation, and the architect Bernard Picenni's unusual approach to fitting a concert stage inside a building made to survive rushing water. Stand on the old turbine floor while you listen, under the arched concrete and stone windows.
This audio guide was created using AI.