The Louvre museum – Department of Primitive Arts
Paris, France
PUBLIC ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GRAND LOUVRE
Architect: WILMOTTE & ASSOCIÉS
Engineer: INEX, COFER
Acoustics: XU ACOUSTIQUE
Cost consultant: MARC VAREILLE
1,400 sqm
2000
Fitting out and museography in the Pavillon des Sessions, which houses the Department of Primitive Arts.
In April 2000, the arts of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas entered the Louvre Museum. The Pavillon des Sessions, located between the Flore wing and the Denon wing in the southern part of the Palais du Louvre, houses nearly 120 selected sculptures.
In keeping with the architectural coherence of the Louvre, sobriety is at the heart of the museography project. The main challenge was to revive the space of the Pavillon des Sessions and adapt it to the works of art while respecting the historical dimension of the building. The distribution of the works by geographical area was a natural choice. In these simplified and open spaces, the passage from one geographical area to another is only signalled by the natural variations of the volumetry. This absence of partitioning offers a fluid space when the very geometry of the place encourages a progressive journey. A reduced harmony of materials (bronze, stone and glass) contributes to the unity, purity and clarity of the space.
Minimalist glass volumes and bronze podiums with pure lines offer airy presentation spaces.
I wanted to give space so that people could walk around the works. We restructured the space by creating elements of symmetry and parallelism, filtered the light and chose very simple materials: very light stone on the floor, the same tone for the walls.
Jean-Michel Wilmotte
architect
