Louis Vuitton Foundation

Louis Vuitton Foundation
Location 16th arrondissement of Paris
Coordinates 48°52′36″N 2°15′48″E / 48.87667°N 2.26333°E / 48.87667; 2.26333Coordinates: 48°52′36″N 2°15′48″E / 48.87667°N 2.26333°E / 48.87667; 2.26333

The building of the Louis Vuitton Foundation (previously Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation, in French "Fondation Louis-Vuitton pour la création"), started in 2006, is an art museum and cultural center sponsored by the group LVMH and its subsidiaries but run as a legally separate, nonprofit entity[1] as part of its promotion of art and culture.

The $143 million[2] museum in Paris has recently been completed and is opened in October 2014. The new building was designed by the architect Frank Gehry, and is adjacent to the Jardin d'Acclimatation in the Bois de Boulogne of the 16th arrondissement of Paris.[3]

History

In 2001, Bernard Arnault, the Chairman of LVMH, met Frank Gehry, and told him of plans for a new building for the Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne. The building project was first presented in 2006, with costs estimated at around €100 million[4] ($127 million) and plans to open in late 2009 or early 2010.[5] Suzanne Pagé, then director of the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, was named the foundation’s artistic director in charge of developing the museum's program.[6]

The Louis Vuitton Foundation finished building (rear view)

The city of Paris which owns the park granted a building permit in 2007. In 2011, an association for the safeguard of the Bois de Boulogne won a court battle, as the judge ruled the centre had been built too close to a tiny asphalt road deemed a public right of way.[7] Opponents to the site had also complained that a new building would disrupt the verdant peace of the historic park.[8] The city appealed the court decision.[9] Renowned French architect Jean Nouvel backed Gehry and said of the objectors: "With their little tight-fitting suits, they want to put Paris in formalin. It's quite pathetic."[10] Eventually a special law was passed by the Assemblée Nationale that the Fondation was in the national interest and “a major work of art for the whole world”, which allowed it to proceed.[11]

The museum opened to the public in October, at a cost of reportedly $143 million.[12] Before the official opening, it provides the venue for Louis Vuitton’s women’s spring/summer 2015 fashion show.[13]

Architecture

Design

Upon Arnault's invitation, Frank Gehry visited the garden, and imagined an architecture inspired by the glass Grand Palais, and also by the structures of glass, such as the Palmarium, which was built for the Jardin d'Acclimation in 1893.[14] The building site is designed after the founding principles of landscaped gardens 19th century. It connects the building with the Jardin d'Acclimatation at north, and the Bois de Boulogne to the south.

The two-story structure has 11 galleries of different sizes (in total 41,441 square feet),[15][16] a voluminous 350-seat auditorium on the lower-ground floor and multilevel roof terraces for events and art installations.[17] Gehry had to build within the square footage and two-story volume of a bowling alley that previously stood on the site; anything higher had to be glass.[18] The resulting glass building takes the form of a sailboat's sails inflated by the wind. These glass sails envelop the "iceberg", a series of shapes with white, flowery terraces.

The galleries on the upper floors are lit by recessed or partially hidden skylights.[19]

The side of the building facing Avenue Mahatma Gandhi, right above the ticket booth, holds a large stainless-steel LV logo designed by Gehry.[20]

According to Gehry's office, more than 400 people contributed design plans, engineering rules, and construction constraints to a shared Web-hosted 3D digital model.[21] The 3,600 glass panels and 19,000 concrete panels that form the façade were simulated and then molded by industrial robots working off the common model.[22] STUDIOS architecture was the local architect for the project spearheading the transition from Gehry's schematic design through the construction process in Paris to building space. [23]

Construction

Construction began in March 2008. The realization of the 126,000-square-foot[24] project required innovative technological developments, from the design phase with the use of 3D design software, Digital Project, specially adapted for the aviation industry. All teams in project management have worked simultaneously on the same digital model so that professionals can exchange information in real time.

Against this building, an organization that protects the park, Coordination for the Safeguarding of the Bois de Boulogne, appealed to the Administrative Justice successfully challenged both the land authorization issued by a decision of the Council of Paris and the building permit was ultimately canceled January 20, 2011.[25] To save the museum project, the city of Paris, on the first point, changed its planning regulations. In April 2011 the city and the Louis Vuitton Foundation received approval to continue the work.

In addition, a rider establishing the building permit was added to a bill on the price of digital books. The association then appealed to the Constitutional Council by filing a priority issue of constitutionality (QPC). On 24 February 2012, the challenge was rejected by the Constitutional Council because the relevant provision "meets a goal of sufficient general interest.[26]

In 2012, construction of the building reached a milestone with the installation of glass sails. These sails are made of 3,584 laminated glass panels,[27] each unique and specifically curved to fit the shapes drawn by the architect. The gallery sections are covered in a white fiber-reinforced concrete called Ductal.[28] The teams participating in the construction of the building have been awarded several architectural awards in France[29] and the U.S.[30]

Collection

The museum's collection, believed to be a combination of works owned by LVMH and Bernard Arnault, will be unveiled in three stages between October 2014 and September 2015. Highlights of the LVMH collection includes works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Gilbert & George and Jeff Koons.[31] For site-specific installations, the foundation commissioned works by Ellsworth Kelly, Olafur Eliasson, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller (starring Scott Tixier and Tony Tixier), Sarah Morris, Taryn Simon, Cerith Wyn Evans and Adrián Villar Rojas.

Kelly made a curtain, Spectrum VIII (2014), consisting of 12 coloured strips, for the building’s auditorium. Eliasson created Inside the Horizon (2014), made up of 43 prism-shaped yellow columns that are illuminated from the inside and placed along a walkway.[32][33] Villar Rojas created a water tank containing found objects, discarded sneakers and plants,[34] installed under one of the 12 glass “sails” that provide the Fondation’s signature, swerving shape.[35]

Management

Funding

The museum was funded by LVMH and bears the name (and logo) of its flagship brand, Louis Vuitton.[36] The building will pass into the hands of the city’s government after 55 years.[37]

References

  1. ↑ Steven Erlanger and Marie-Pia Gohin (April 7, 2011), Tycoon’s Project: Nimby With a French Accent New York Times.
  2. ↑ Steven Erlanger and Marie-Pia Gohin (April 7, 2011), Tycoon’s Project: Nimby With a French Accent New York Times.
  3. ↑ Willsher, Kim (October 18, 2014). "A glass cloud or an iceberg? Gehry's gift to Paris unveiled". The Guardian. p. 33.
  4. ↑ Kim Willsher (October 3, 2006), Is it a cloud? Is it a cocoon? Gehry's Paris museum unveiled The Guardian.
  5. ↑ Alan Riding (October 3, 2006), Vuitton Plans a Gehry-Designed Arts Center in Paris New York Times.
  6. ↑ Alan Riding (October 3, 2006), Vuitton Plans a Gehry-Designed Arts Center in Paris New York Times.
  7. ↑ Henry Samuel (February 6, 2011), World's top architect Frank Gehry brands Paris residents 'philistines' after planning permission revoked Daily Telegraph.
  8. ↑ Hannah Elliott (April 7, 2011), LVMH Moves Forward With Gehry Art Museum Forbes.
  9. ↑ Steven Erlanger and Marie-Pia Gohin (April 7, 2011), Tycoon’s Project: Nimby With a French Accent New York Times.
  10. ↑ Jay Merrick (October 21, 2014), Frank Gehry's new Paris mega gallery The Independent.
  11. ↑ Rowan Moore (October 19, 2014), Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris review – everything and the bling from Frank Gehry The Guardian.
  12. ↑ Paul Goldberger (September 2014), Gehry’s Paris Coup Vanity Fair.
  13. ↑ Adam Thomson (October 1, 2014), The Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris Financial Times.
  14. ↑ http://www.jardindacclimatation.fr/histoire/
  15. ↑ Adam Thomson (October 1, 2014), The Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris Financial Times.
  16. ↑ David Chazan (October 19, 2014), Frank Gehry ‘Iceberg’ art gallery to open in Paris Daily Telegraph.
  17. ↑ Joseph Giovannini (October 20, 2014), An Architect’s Big Parisian Moment: Two Shows for Frank Gehry, as His Vuitton Foundation Opens New York Times.
  18. ↑ Joseph Giovannini (October 20, 2014), An Architect’s Big Parisian Moment: Two Shows for Frank Gehry, as His Vuitton Foundation Opens New York Times.
  19. ↑ Christopher Hawthorne (October 17, 2014), Review: Gehry's Louis Vuitton Foundation museum is a triumph, but to what end? Los Angeles Times.
  20. ↑ Christopher Hawthorne (October 17, 2014), Review: Gehry's Louis Vuitton Foundation museum is a triumph, but to what end? Los Angeles Times.
  21. ↑ Belinda Lanks (October 28, 2014), Inside Frank Gehry's Spectacular Louis Vuitton Foundation Businessweek.
  22. ↑ Belinda Lanks (October 28, 2014), Inside Frank Gehry's Spectacular Louis Vuitton Foundation Businessweek.
  23. ↑ Foundation Louis Vuitton (November 15, 2014), 'Foundation Louis Vuitton.
  24. ↑ Paul Goldberger (September 2014), Gehry’s Paris Coup Vanity Fair.
  25. ↑ http://www.leparisien.fr/paris-75/paris-75005/la-fondation-lvmh-arretee-en-pleins-travaux-22-01-2011-1237878.php
  26. ↑ http://www.lepoint.fr/culture/le-permis-de-construire-du-musee-lvmh-valide-par-le-conseil-constitutionnel-24-02-2012-1434740_3.php
  27. ↑ Judy Fayard (October 23, 2014), The Louis Vuitton Foundation By the Numbers Wall Street Journal.
  28. ↑ Paul Goldberger (September 2014), Gehry’s Paris Coup Vanity Fair.
  29. ↑ http://www.cgedd.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/Communique_de_Presse_GPNI_2012_cle7b49f8.pdf
  30. ↑ http://www.gehrytech.com/news/content/gehry-technologies-awarded-building-information-model-bim-award-aia
  31. ↑ Winged victory The Economist, October 11, 2014.
  32. ↑ Gareth Harris (October 20, 2014), Fondation Louis Vuitton reveals its secrets The Art Newspaper.
  33. ↑ Kevin McGarry (October 24, 2014), The Fondation Louis Vuitton Opens at Last New York Times.
  34. ↑ Doreen Carvajal (October 17, 2014), LVMH Flaunts Its Billowing Gehry Trophy in Paris New York Times.
  35. ↑ Kevin McGarry (October 24, 2014), The Fondation Louis Vuitton Opens at Last New York Times.
  36. ↑ Winged victory The Economist, October 11, 2014.
  37. ↑ Adam Thomson (October 1, 2014), The Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris Financial Times.

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