Albert Kahn is a French millionaire banker who created at the beginning of the 20th century. a huge collection of color (autochromic) photographs (72,000 negatives) dedicated to the life and customs of the peoples of the world. To do this, he sent photographers to different countries who captured many traditional societies on the verge of their transition to "modern" life, which left their customs and peculiarities in the past. Kahn hoped that his project would contribute to the creation of interethnic ties, establish a new level of mutual understanding between peoples, but the outbreak of the First World War showed the utopian character of his hopes. However, Kahn also included photographs from its fronts in his collection.
Despite its uniqueness, his collection of photographs remained little known to the public for a long time, and the construction of a new museum should change this situation. The building will be located in the former estate of Cana in the Parisian suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt, where a beautiful garden has been preserved, consisting of a regular (French), landscape (English) and Japanese parts. Albert Kahn was very fond of Japan, visited it twice and developed Japanese-French ties in every possible way, and Kengo Kuma's victory in the competition for his museum fits well into this line.
The inspiration for Kuma's project was an element of traditional Japanese architecture - the engawa gallery surrounding the residential building, a transitional space between the environment and the interior. In the new museum, this principle was expressed in the use of thin sun-protection plates: wooden blinds cover the facades, providing the exhibition space with protection from the sun's rays, and visitors can freely admire the garden from the semi-open spaces around the perimeter of the building.
Permanent and temporary exhibitions are planned to be located on 3 floors of the new building; from the upper floors, spectacular views of the garden will open through panoramic glazing. There will also be a restaurant, a pavilion for a tea ceremony and an auditorium with 120 seats. The total area of the museum will be about 4600 m2.
The project is scheduled for 2015-2017.
Nastya Mavrina
