One of Paris’ most hotly anticipated cultural projects, the redesign of the Bourse de Commerce by Tadao Ando, for businessman François Pinault and the Pinault Collection, has just announced its opening date – on 3 January 2021. The transformation’s design was masterminded by the celebrated Japanese architect, who has a long-standing relationship with Pinault, having worked together on projects such as the Palazzo Grassi and the Punta della Dogana in Venice.
The Bourse – Paris’ former stock exchange - is a magnficent historical building full of striking period features such as a central rotunda, dome and murals. Ando and his team worked with the original structure’s character, adding a layer of the iconic architect’s signature concrete minimalism.
Ando is an experienced hand at creating powerful, yet calming cultural spaces, such as his recent He Art Museum in China. At the Bourse he inserted a cylindrical three-tiered structure into the building’s main rotunda, creating space for exhibition displays. New photography of the space has just been released on the run up to the official inauguration early next year. The gallery space is completemented by an auditorium, a generous, bright foyer and a black-box theatre for video installations and experimental performances.
‘I am delighted with the upcoming opening of the Bourse de Commerce,’ says Pinault. ‘Not only will it add to the European landscape of institutions devoted to presenting contemporary art, but after the difficult year experienced by France and the world in 2020, it will contribute to the renaissance of the Parisian cultural sphere.’
The launch of this seminal cultural destination will be programmed, as expected, in full compliance to the health and safety guidelines at the time. §
