Thus a hut’s central post in the ‘big chief’ who is protected by the ‘lesser chiefs’, of the wall posts which surround it, and the coconut-fibre cords which tie the latter together are the women whose function is to hold their tribe together. All the ten sail-like structures that feather skywards out of a wooded landscape on the site have a soaring lightness and curvilinear energy from afar. However they are even subtler in their layering of irregular staves and joists, louvred screens, tie-bars, curved ribs and fretwork effects at close range. Each one is built of 'iroko' wood (imported from Ghana) laminated with steel; a wood which present resistance to rot and humidity and with time takes on a silver patina that tones with the colour of the trunks of the coconut palms which grow in the beaches of New Caledonia. Their arrangement echoes the formal, axial approach to the large conical thatched huts of traditional Kanak culture. This layout reflects of traditional villages, composed of several clusters of houses grouped together. These very unusual huts are also grouped together in a sequence, precisely in three clusters. The first, which also serves as the entrance, houses a permanent exhibition on the Kanak civilisation, as well as an auditorium and catering services. A library, conference room and the offices are on the contrary housed in the second cluster, while the third is made up of rooms for creative activities, from music to painting. However they are a reflection only, and in fact also thoroughly transform tradition. An up to date complex of rectilinear constructions opens in the reverse direction from the u-shaped towers, looking out towards the more sheltered ‘inner lagoon’ side of the site. It accommodates advanced exhibition areas, public facilities, a multimedia library as well as a theatre.