Moroccan jewel: Studio KO reveals design for new Yves Saint Laurent museum
![Saint Laurent museum in Marrakesh](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/omAhJ55ifNMCHCKVBtJGhM-415-80.jpg)
Studio KO has just revealed the first designs for the Yves Saint Laurent museum in Morocco, a new complex entirely dedicated to the legendary French designer and his work. Situated in Marrakesh, the establishment will house part of the Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent Paris collection.
Headed by Olivier Marty and Karl Fournier, the French architecture firm already has some serious leisure and fashion credentials under its belt – they are also behind works such as the Chiltern Firehouse in London and the Balmain boutique in New York.
The team has had an office in Morocco for 15 years. They had worked privately for Pierre Bergé (co-founder of YSL fashion house and President of the Fondation PB-YSL) in Tangier in the past – an event which led to this commission. ‘It came that, as young architects in Paris, we had an opportunity to get in touch with great clients there in Morocco, where expectations were huge and competitors few,’ they say. ‘It all started with the Hermès (family), the Agnellis, then Pierre Bergé.’
The new building sits next to the famous Jardin Majorelle, which was co-owned by Saint Laurent and where his ashes were scattered after his death in 2008. It will span 4,000 sq m and play host to an impressive 5,000 items of clothing; 15,000 accessories; thousands of sketches; and other assorted objects.
A permanent exhibition area will be complemented by a temporary exhibition space, a 130-seat auditorium, a bookshop, a cafe-restaurant with a terrace and a research library, touching upon themes of literature, botany, Berber culture, poetry, history and, of course, Saint Laurent’s oeuvre.
The architects take inspiration from the North African country for their designs. The new building is a sophisticated, tactile project in terracotta (bricks from a local supplier make up the external skin), concrete, terrazzo and Moroccan stone. There were also sartorial influences.
‘The client gave us – on purpose – an abstract brief, that was not referring to the formal language of Yves Saint Laurent. Pierre Bergé wanted the project to be anchored in both modernity and Morocco,’ explain the architects. ‘We designed the building like one would cut fabric for a dress, by composing curves and lines, in the fashion of the working drawings, white traced on black paper, that we discovered in the designer’s workshop and archives. Its façades would be wrapped it in a brick trim, like a drape, a throw, a cape.’
The 2017 launch of the new building is scheduled to coincide with a new Yves Saint Laurent museum in Paris, in the renovated headquarters of the Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent.
Set to open in 2017, the structure is clad in terracotta bricks, over a build featuring concrete, terrazzo and Moroccan stone
The building will span 4,000 sq m and will play host to an impressive 5,000 items of clothing; 15,000 accessories; thousands of sketches; and other assorted objects
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Studio KO website
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
At Lee Ufan Arles, tension and calm guide relationships between space and art
Lee Ufan Arles opens in the south of France, a collaboration between the famed Korean artist and Japanese architect Tadao Ando
By Amah-Rose Mcknight Abrams Published
-
A new era: Centre Pompidou architects discuss their bold 2030 plans
Plans for the Centre Pompidou 2030 vision were recently announced, revealing a design refresh of the iconic Paris structure; we caught up with its lead architects Moreau Kusunoki to hear more
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
The Grand Paris Express, Europe’s largest urban design project, is en route to success
The Grand Paris Express is a system of new rapid transit lines across the French capital, with each station designed by a different architect – and it's currently under construction
By Amy Serafin Published
-
The Fondation Maeght in Provence digs deep for a spectacular gallery expansion
The Fondation Maeght, the first private art institution, turns 60 this year and celebrates with a glamorous extension to its Provence home
By Amy Serafin Published
-
The new Krug winery in the Champagne heartland connects process and nature
AW2 Architects’ design for the Krug winery encapsulates the part rural, part urban landscape of the French winemaking region of Ambonnay
By Caragh McKay Published
-
Grand Palais restoration in Paris through the lens of champion fencer Enzo Lefort
As Paris’ Grand Palais prepares to reopen following extensive restoration by Chatillon Architectes, we visit the site with champion fencer and photographer Enzo Lefort, who documented the space ahead of the Olympic Games 2024
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Royan Architecture Month showcases French modernism by the sea
Royan Architecture Month 2024 launches in the French city, where many travel to see midcentury builds by the sea, from Notre Dame church to Palais des Congrès
By Stacy Suaya Published
-
Dip into the Paris pools and swimming culture enriching the 2024 Olympic Games
Paris pools, in the Olympics and beyond, have inspired fun, wellness and a love of sports in the French capital
By Ellen Himelfarb Published