Giga towers, mega bridges: in the bowels of extraordinary monuments

The Burj Khalifa towers in Dubai (828 meters) or Montparnasse in Paris (210 meters), the Akashi Strait suspension bridge and its 1.991 meters central span ... The exhibition "XXHL, giga towers and mega bridges" presents , until March 7, 2021, a panorama of the largest contemporary monumental buildings (in height as in width), from the point of view of the engineer and not the architect.

"These monumental achievements all hold records, but this is not an exhibition on records: the idea is to present the technical genius at work, in our editorial line + hands in grease +", explains to the 'AFP Evanthia Ioannidou, project manager for this exhibition.

After a glance at a large fresco starting at the pyramid of Giza (built 4.500 years ago), the public, from the end of college, can stroll through two large rooms to slip into the skin of 'an engineer when designing a monument, via a fluid and 80% digital museography (giant "immersive" screens, interactive video projection, augmented reality, etc.).

They can familiarize themselves with "BIM" ("Building information modeling"), this scalable digital model in 3D, a must for designers. "Since the 1990s, the digital tool has transformed the way of designing: we can no longer build these buildings without the power of digital calculation, which makes it possible, for example, to assess wind resistance, or to anticipate what is the most ecologically virtuous ", underlines Evanthia Ioannidou.

The exhibition is also about renovation, with a captivating focus on the Montparnasse tower renaissance project, and on "sustainable" constructions such as the Hyperion wooden tower in Bordeaux.

Because the time is no longer just for size: the criterion of "the environmental footprint is gaining in importance in the race for the highest performance", writes engineer Jean-Marc Jeager, in the journal of the exposure.