Bâtiment des Forces Motrices (Le BFM)

The most startling and most centrally located theater and concert hall in Geneva, it stages an ongoing series of theater and musical concerts that are among the most controversial and iconoclastic in town. Set astride a long and narrow island in the middle of the Rhône, very close to the tramway junction at the Place du Bel-Air, it was originally inaugurated in 1886 as a hydroelectric and pumping station, moving vast quantities of water from the low-lying river to factories, fountains, and private homes up to 10km (6 1/4 miles) away. Abandoned during the 1960s, it was radically reconfigured in 1997, when, after changes to its acoustically sophisticated interior, it reopened as a venue for classical and rock concerts, theater pieces, fashion defiles, and political rallies. You'll recognize the place by its neoclassical brickwork and by the trio of gods (Neptune, Ceres, and Mercury), whose statues adorn its pediment. Locals refer to the it as "Le BFM."

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