One of the largest collectors of modern, more precisely, the latest art in the world, billionaire Francois Pinault, sought to open a museum of his collection in Paris in the mid-2000s, but then circumstances were not in his favor, but Venice was lucky. It was there that two Pino museums appeared: Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana. However, the huge - more than 10,000 works - collection made it possible to make further plans, so at the invitation of the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, Pinault took up the reconstruction of the empty Commodity Exchange. This building in the very heart of the city has today the appearance of the late 19th century: it was solemnly presented to the world simultaneously with the Eiffel Tower at the World Exhibition in 1889.
The architect was once again the permanent author of art structures for Pino - Tadao Ando - with the support of a French workshop
NeM Architects, eminent restorer Pierre-Antoine Gathier and the engineering firm Setec. The designers brothers Bouroullec also took part in the project, who not only developed items for the interior of the museum, but also benches and other objects for the space around the former stock exchange, landscaped by the city's forces.
The commodity exchange is protected by the state as an architectural monument, therefore, the reconstruction was not only combined with careful restoration, but also did not damage the historical building in any way. Ando developed here a scheme tested on Venetian "antiquities": he placed an insert repeating its outlines in an existing structure. In this case, a hollow concrete cylinder 9 meters high and 29 meters in diameter was inserted into the domed rotunda according to the principle of a nesting doll. It allows you to see the interior of the late 19th century with allegorical paintings glorifying the success of France in international trade, but “defames” it, removing the conflict between the “traditional” exterior and the latest art, which is frequent in such museums (Pinault collects works not older than the 1960s).
The cylinder is the main exhibition space. On its outer side, there are staircases leading to 9 other exhibition halls (from the first to the third floor), as well as to a gallery running along its upper edge. The underground level houses an auditorium for 284 people and a black box studio for video and sound art. The "Foyer" ring around the central auditorium is intended for performances, installations and experimental works of art. A cafe-restaurant will open on the fourth floor.
François Pinault emphasizes that in Paris there is an abundance of wonderful museums, but there has not yet been a large collection dedicated to a completely new art, the works of our contemporaries. The trading exchange is designed to correct this mistake and satisfy "our appetite for modernity."
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zooming The Collection Pinault Museum at the Commodity Exchange in Paris Bourse de Commerce - Pinault Collection © Tadao Ando Architect & Associates, Niney et Marca Architectes, Agence Pierre-Antoine Gatier Photo Patrick Tourneboeuf
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zooming Collection Pinault Museum at the Commodity Exchange in Paris Bourse de Commerce - Pinault Collection © Tadao Ando Architect & Associates, Niney et Marca Architectes, Agence Pierre-Antoine Gatier Photo Maxime Tétard, Studio Les Graphiquants, Paris
The second aspect of the project, albeit not rare in reconstruction projects, is the traces of different eras in one structure, where modernity adds only another layer. The "triumphal" column from the now disappeared palace of Catherine de Medici in the 1570s, the walls of the grain market built in its place in the 18th century, the metal dome of the early 19th century and the stock exchange itself are the work of the architect Henri Blondel at the end of the same century. Nearby - the Church of Saint-Eustache and the renewed "womb of Paris" - Les Halles. And the third topic, which is also important, is that the exchange is becoming a private, but still public space, on a par with the surrounding municipal improvement with the participation of the Bouroullec brothers.
