All products featured on Architectural Digest are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Will this be the year Marseille moves beyond its tough, gritty reputation? Designated a European Capital of Culture for 2013, the city is burnishing its image with an array of new gallery and performance spaces.
Most prominent is the history- and anthropology-focused Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée, opening in June. Clad in an eye-popping lacelike concrete shell, the square structure, designed by architect Rudy Ricciotti, is a dramatic addition to the city’s famed Old Port, with a footbridge linking it to historic Fort Saint-Jean. Next door sits Boeri Studio’s feat of engineering the cantilevered Villa Méditerranée, which presents interactive exhibits that explore connections between cultures across the region. Also on the harbor, Foster + Partners designed a shimmering steel pavilion for waterfront performances and events. In addition, former industrial spaces have been intriguingly repurposed to create venues, including Le Silo, a concert hall inside an 85-year-old grain-storage facility.
In time for the cultural festivities, the 18th-century Hôtel-Dieu hospital building, which overlooks the neo-Byzantine Basilica de Notre-Dame de la Garde and the Old Port, has been converted into a luxe 194-room InterContinental hotel by architect Anthony Béchu. “Marseille is a true melting pot—a great mélange of art, culture, cuisine, and design,” Béchu says. “It’s really a magical place.”
In the city’s center, designer Philippe Starck opened an outpost of his moderately priced boutique hotel Mama Shelter. An even more intimate option is the four-bedroom Casa Honoré, a posh B&B by designer Annick Lestrohan that occupies an old print shop and now offers a lush garden and pool.
Foodwise, Les Buvards (011-33-491-906-998) is a friendly bistro/wine bar that specializes in organic vintages, while seafood favorite Le Peron serves first-rate bouillabaisse. For architecture fans making the pilgrimage to the Unité d’Habitation, Le Corbusier’s masterpiece of utopian housing on the city’s outskirts, star chef Alexandre Mazzia’s modern-cuisine Le Ventre de l’Architecte is a must.
