Lascaux Cave, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List since its inception, along with the Spanish Altamira, is one of the most important and spectacular ensembles of primitive art. Lasko is located in the Weser Valley, which is considered the cradle of European Paleolithic civilization. There is a whole series of rock art monuments, but Lasko is the largest of them. Discovered near the city of Montignac in 1940, the cave was used for ritual purposes about 20,000 years ago. Then there were created murals and engraved reliefs, first of all - images of animals and hunting scenes, including many meters. In 1948, the cave was opened for tourists, and in 1963 it had to be closed forever, as the microclimate that had changed from visits began to harm the images (mold appeared there, etc.). In 1983, a "backup cave" was created, and in 2010, on the anniversary of the discovery of Lasko, a brand new visitor center was announced with a replica of the cave and a varied display.
The Lasko IV project (the original is the first Lasko, the understudy is the second, and the third is a traveling exhibition that has been traveling the world since 2012) was commissioned by the Snøhetta bureau (Norwegian architects were engaged in architecture, interior design, landscape design) and museum exhibition specialists Casson Mann. The new building is inscribed in the landscape on the outskirts of Montignac, on the border of the cultivated Weser Valley and the hilly ridge, where the Lascaux Cave is located very close. The basis of the project is contrasts: concrete and glass, interior and surroundings, brutal walls and greenery, shaded exhibition halls and sunny courtyards and lobbies.
Visitors first take the elevator to the roof of the building, from where they can take in the surrounding landscape. Then they will have a winding path down to a copy of the cave, which resembles the path of its discoverers in 1940 and helps to tune in to a meeting with a unique monument. The copy was made using 3D laser scanning with a tolerance of no more than 1 millimeter. The images were made by hand by 25 artists in two years of work: 1900 paintings (with paleolithic pigments identical in composition) and engravings were applied to polymer surfaces with a total area of 900 m2. The room maintains a high humidity and a temperature of about 16 degrees - just like in a real Lasko. Lamps give the wrong light, like bowls with animal fat, which illuminated a cave in primitive times.
After examining the paintings, visitors find themselves in a gorge-like "Cave Garden", a landscaped courtyard, where they can again get used to the 21st century. Now the rest of the exposition awaits them, including the "Workshop", where large fragments of paintings are presented for close examination and a detailed story about Lasko is offered, "Cinema of Rock Art" with a 3D film about the cave, and "Gallery of the Imagination" dedicated to the influence of the primitive art for artists and sculptors of the XX – XXI centuries.
