Louvre-Lens
Encyclopedia
The Louvre-Lens is a planned branch museum of the Musée du Louvre, due to open in 2012 in the industrial French
city of Lens
, Pas-de-Calais.
are viewed only in distinct departments—for example, French Painting, Near Eastern Art or Sculpture—established some 200 years ago, it was decided that a satellite building would be created outside of Paris, to experiment with other museological displays and to allow for a larger visitorship outside the confines of the Paris Palace. Sourced from the Louvre's core holdings, and not from long-lost or stored works in the basement of the Louvre, as widely thought, the new satellite will show works side-by-side, cross-referenced and juxtaposed from all periods and cultures, creating an entirely new experience for the museum visitor. The project completion is planned for 2012; the building will be capable of receiving between 500 and 600 major works, with a core gallery over several millennia. This new building should receive about 500,000 visitors per year. There were originally six city candidates for this project: Amiens
, Arras
, Boulogne-sur-Mer
, Calais
, Lens
, and Valenciennes
. On November 29, 2004, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin
chose Lens, Pas-de-Calais
to be the site of the new Louvre building. Le Louvre-Lens was the name chosen for the museum.
, will have 28,000 square meters of usable space built on two levels, with semi-permanent exhibition space covering at least 6000 m². There will also be space set aside for rotating temporary exhibitions. The project will also feature a multi-purpose theatre and visitable conservation spaces. The building is composed of a series of low-laying volumes clad in glass and stainless steel in the middle of a 60-acre (60 acres (242,811.6 m²)) former mining site, largely reclaimed by nature. The estimated cost for this building is 82 million euro, or 103.4 million US dollars (at January 2009). The new satellite building was commissioned after an international architectural competition
in 2005. The Japanese architects SANAA (Kazuyo Sejima
and Ryue Nishizawa
) of Tokyo, associated with architects Imrey-Culbert (New York) and landscape architect Catherine Mosbach (Paris), were awarded the project on September 26, 2005. SANAA is a widely recognized Japanese architectural firm, noted for their ethereal designs. Imrey Culbert is a New York and Paris-based architectural design firm. In 2009, Imrey Culbert concluded their work for the project, having completed their bid-level designs for the building and their schematic designs for the exhibits. A French museographer, Studio Adrien Gardère, has been hired to complete the exhibit designs. On December 4, 2009, the first stone of the building was inaugurated on site by the French Minister of Culture, Frédéric Mitterrand. On the same day, the "Maison du Projet" dedicated to the future museum was opened to the public in Lens.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
city of Lens
Lens, Pas-de-Calais
Lens is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is one of France's large Picarde cities along with Lille, Valenciennes, Amiens, Roubaix, Tourcoing, Arras, and Douai.-Metropolitan area:...
, Pas-de-Calais.
Origin
Since many of the works in the LouvreLouvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
are viewed only in distinct departments—for example, French Painting, Near Eastern Art or Sculpture—established some 200 years ago, it was decided that a satellite building would be created outside of Paris, to experiment with other museological displays and to allow for a larger visitorship outside the confines of the Paris Palace. Sourced from the Louvre's core holdings, and not from long-lost or stored works in the basement of the Louvre, as widely thought, the new satellite will show works side-by-side, cross-referenced and juxtaposed from all periods and cultures, creating an entirely new experience for the museum visitor. The project completion is planned for 2012; the building will be capable of receiving between 500 and 600 major works, with a core gallery over several millennia. This new building should receive about 500,000 visitors per year. There were originally six city candidates for this project: Amiens
Amiens
Amiens is a city and commune in northern France, north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in Picardy...
, Arras
Arras
Arras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is characterized as a Picard dialect...
, Boulogne-sur-Mer
Boulogne-sur-Mer
-Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....
, Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
, Lens
Lens, Pas-de-Calais
Lens is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is one of France's large Picarde cities along with Lille, Valenciennes, Amiens, Roubaix, Tourcoing, Arras, and Douai.-Metropolitan area:...
, and Valenciennes
Valenciennes
Valenciennes is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies on the Scheldt river. Although the city and region had seen a steady decline between 1975 and 1990, it has since rebounded...
. On November 29, 2004, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin
Jean-Pierre Raffarin
Jean-Pierre Raffarin is a French conservative politician and senator for Vienne.Jean-Pierre Raffarin served as the Prime Minister of France from 6 May 2002 to 31 May 2005, resigning after France's rejection of the referendum on the European Union draft constitution. However, after Raffarin...
chose Lens, Pas-de-Calais
Lens, Pas-de-Calais
Lens is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is one of France's large Picarde cities along with Lille, Valenciennes, Amiens, Roubaix, Tourcoing, Arras, and Douai.-Metropolitan area:...
to be the site of the new Louvre building. Le Louvre-Lens was the name chosen for the museum.
Building
The new satellite museum, funded by the local regional government, the Nord-Pas de CalaisNord-Pas de Calais
Nord-Pas de Calais , Nord for short, is one of the 27 regions of France. It consists of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais, in the north and has a border with Belgium. Most of the region was once part of the Southern Netherlands, within the Low Countries, and gradually became part of France...
, will have 28,000 square meters of usable space built on two levels, with semi-permanent exhibition space covering at least 6000 m². There will also be space set aside for rotating temporary exhibitions. The project will also feature a multi-purpose theatre and visitable conservation spaces. The building is composed of a series of low-laying volumes clad in glass and stainless steel in the middle of a 60-acre (60 acres (242,811.6 m²)) former mining site, largely reclaimed by nature. The estimated cost for this building is 82 million euro, or 103.4 million US dollars (at January 2009). The new satellite building was commissioned after an international architectural competition
Architectural design competition
An architectural design competition is a special type of competition in which an organization or government body that plans to build a new building asks for architects to submit a proposed design for a building. The winning design is usually chosen by an independent panel of design professionals...
in 2005. The Japanese architects SANAA (Kazuyo Sejima
Kazuyo Sejima
is a Japanese architect. After studying at Japan Women's University and working in the office of Toyo Ito, in 1987 she founded Kazuyo Sejima and Associates. In 1995 she founded the Tokyo-based firm SANAA together with her former employee Ryue Nishizawa...
and Ryue Nishizawa
Ryue Nishizawa
is an Japanese architect based in Tokyo. He is a graduate of Yokohama National University, and is director of his own firm, Office of Ryue Nishizawa, established in 1997. In 1995, he co-founded the firm SANAA with the architect Kazuyo Sejima...
) of Tokyo, associated with architects Imrey-Culbert (New York) and landscape architect Catherine Mosbach (Paris), were awarded the project on September 26, 2005. SANAA is a widely recognized Japanese architectural firm, noted for their ethereal designs. Imrey Culbert is a New York and Paris-based architectural design firm. In 2009, Imrey Culbert concluded their work for the project, having completed their bid-level designs for the building and their schematic designs for the exhibits. A French museographer, Studio Adrien Gardère, has been hired to complete the exhibit designs. On December 4, 2009, the first stone of the building was inaugurated on site by the French Minister of Culture, Frédéric Mitterrand. On the same day, the "Maison du Projet" dedicated to the future museum was opened to the public in Lens.