Louis Vuitton Museum Opened In Paris
Source: http://www.thelocal.fr
#louisvuitton #museum #france #paris #style #architecture
French president Francois Hollande inaugurated the Foundation Louis Vuitton contemporary art museum on October 20.
The private contemporary art museum was financed by Bernard Arnault, who heads up the LVMH luxury goods empire and whose net worth is estimated at almost US$ 30 billion by Forbes. The foundation was designed by 85-year-old architect Frank Gehry who wanted to "design, in Paris, a magnificent vessel symbolizing the cultural calling of France".
Gehry is best known for designing the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum building in Bilbao, Spain. Spain Museum of Modern Art Guggenheim Foundation aroused the admiration of the French billionaire who wished to have the building constructed in a similar aesthetic.
Anchored by imposing iron and wood girders that evoke Belle Epoque steelwork, and relying on aerospace technology for its construction, Gehry's masterstroke is the building's 12 undulating sails covering an area of 13,500 square meters. The rectangular panels of glass made in specially created ovens in Italy reflect the light in different ways as they appear to twist this way and that. They float over the body of the building, "the iceberg," constructed of fiber-reinforced concrete known as Ductal.
Construction and designing of the private museum has taken more than 12 years and Mr. Gehry had to design almost 60 different layouts. The ambitious project took 100 engineers assembled by Gehry and a total of 3,000 workers.
The museum is as ambitious as anything Gehry has ever produced but also, surprisingly, as refined. Covering 11.700 square meters and holding 11 separate galleries on four levels as well as a sizable auditorium, space for concerts and so on. At the moment they are exposed not more than a dozen contemporary installations, specially created for the opening, and 60 architectural layouts of Gehry. The main collection will be placed in the halls only at the beginning of next year.
The center formally opens on Octtober 27. Admission will be free for a few days and then rise to nearly US$ 18 for an adult. In 2062 the building will revert to public ownership, becoming property of the city of Paris.
The private contemporary art museum was financed by Bernard Arnault, who heads up the LVMH luxury goods empire and whose net worth is estimated at almost US$ 30 billion by Forbes. The foundation was designed by 85-year-old architect Frank Gehry who wanted to "design, in Paris, a magnificent vessel symbolizing the cultural calling of France".
Gehry is best known for designing the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum building in Bilbao, Spain. Spain Museum of Modern Art Guggenheim Foundation aroused the admiration of the French billionaire who wished to have the building constructed in a similar aesthetic.
Anchored by imposing iron and wood girders that evoke Belle Epoque steelwork, and relying on aerospace technology for its construction, Gehry's masterstroke is the building's 12 undulating sails covering an area of 13,500 square meters. The rectangular panels of glass made in specially created ovens in Italy reflect the light in different ways as they appear to twist this way and that. They float over the body of the building, "the iceberg," constructed of fiber-reinforced concrete known as Ductal.
Construction and designing of the private museum has taken more than 12 years and Mr. Gehry had to design almost 60 different layouts. The ambitious project took 100 engineers assembled by Gehry and a total of 3,000 workers.
The museum is as ambitious as anything Gehry has ever produced but also, surprisingly, as refined. Covering 11.700 square meters and holding 11 separate galleries on four levels as well as a sizable auditorium, space for concerts and so on. At the moment they are exposed not more than a dozen contemporary installations, specially created for the opening, and 60 architectural layouts of Gehry. The main collection will be placed in the halls only at the beginning of next year.
The center formally opens on Octtober 27. Admission will be free for a few days and then rise to nearly US$ 18 for an adult. In 2062 the building will revert to public ownership, becoming property of the city of Paris.
