Beaux-Arts cubed

摘要

In 2009 Stanton Williams won an international competition held by the city of Nantes to comprehensively renovate and extend the city's Musée des Beaux-Arts. The aim was to transform the 19th century building, already one of France's leading regional galleries, into a more accessible and user-friendly environment that engaged more fully with its urban context and its citizens. Besides a complete transformation of the existing galleries, 4,000m~2 of additional gallery space was needed to exhibit the museum's increasing collection of contemporary art and new spaces required to accommodate an auditorium, library, educational facilities, an archive and sculpture court. The museum's brief extended beyond the architecture alone. The winning practice needed to demonstrate its ability to create a finely tailored museography, including a new visual identity and graphics appropriate to the collection and contemporary architecture. A fully integrated landscape and continuous architectural ensemble were also required to enhance the renamed Musée d'arts de Nantes' central role in the urban fabric of the area and to make it clearly identifiable to the public.