The expansion of the museum building in Villeneuve-d'Acque was required in 1999, when a collection of 4,500 works of art, donated to him by the L'Aracine Foundation, was added to its first-class collection of contemporary and contemporary art. Such a number of works required a significant increase in exhibition space, so a competition was held for the design of a new building, which was won in 2002 by Manuel Gautran. Her version attracted the jury by the fact that she closely linked the main building of 1983 by the architect Roland Simune (listed building since 2000) with the new structure, rather than just placing them side by side.
The museum opened after the restoration of the old wing and the construction of a new one under a different name: the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and Art Brut of the Lille Metropolis. Now, thanks to the Gotran building, it has a library, auditorium, café and research center.
Its structure is reminiscent in plan of the interweaving of ribbons winding along the rear facade of the Simune building with its clear rectangular plan structure. The outer walls of these concrete "bands" are covered with an organic relief pattern, repeating the pattern of openings on the concrete sunscreens that cover the glazing areas. As a result, from the outside, the facades of the new building look harmonious, and only a small amount of light gets inside, which will not damage the works exhibited in the museum (no more than 30% of the surfaces of all glass openings remain exposed to the sun).
The light entering through the asymmetrical openings in the screens creates an unusual pattern in the interior, which is repeated by the openwork walls of the shop windows. The soft lighting and the natural and vibrant relationship between the interior and exterior of a building are very important to the museum, as the surrounding park itself is a significant piece of landscape design and also exhibits sculptural works by masters such as Alexander Kolder and Pablo Picasso.
