FLV Countdown
John Hill
22. October 2014
Day 16: "Night-time at the Fondation: A light like a beacon in the night." (All photos and quotes courtesy of FLV)
The Fondation Louis Vuitton (FLV) in Paris, designed by Frank O. Gehry, opens to the public on October 27. Building up to the much-anticipated opening, FLV is counting down with 50 days of "stories" and "emotions." We highlight some of our favorites.
The FLV was inaugurated on Monday, October 20, one week before the public opening, with French President François Hollande in attendance. Also before the public opening, the contemporary art museum is giving ticketed visitors free admission on October 24-26. Commemorating what is being seen as one of Gehry's crowning achievements (Hollande called it "a miracle of intelligence, creativity and technology," per the New York Times), the inauguration actually takes place from October 2014 to September 2015, in three stages marked by exhibitions, partial unveilings of their collection, and events. Visitors in the first stage will learn about the building and its architect through the exhibition Frank Gehry in Gallery 4, which coincides with a major eponymous exhibition on Gehry at the Centre Pompidou, also in Paris. Those who cannot make it to Paris for either exhibition can learn about Gehry's FLV through the museum's "one day, one story, one emotion" countdown to the public opening, parts of it below and all of it on FLV's website.
Day 49: "The Inspiration: Sketch of the building preceding the initial architectural models." (Drawing © Gehry Partners, LLP and Frank O. Gehry)
Day 47: "The glass: 3,600 panels, each one unique, moulded in a special furnace in Padua, Italy, form the 12 glass sails with a total surface area of 13,500 sm." (Photo © Fondation Louis Vuitton / Thomas Depin)
Day 43: "Wood: A virtuoso head-to-head between nature and technology. The curves of the Fondation's larch beams push the boundaries of what it's possible to achieve with wood as a construction material." (Photo © Fondation Louis Vuitton / Florence Joubert - 2013)
Day 39: "Plans and plants: 300 trees have been planted to give the Jardin d'Acclimatation back its original appearance. Species native to the Paris Basin have been joined by horse chestnut trees from Asia, cherry trees from Japan, tulip trees from Virginia, black pines from Austria and many more."
Day 37: An Iwan Baan photo of the FLV.
Day 32: "Ductal: The building's facing is covered with 19,000 panels of Ductal, each uniquely created through an exclusive process. The material is made of sand, cement, organic fibres and water. It is an ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete."
Day 26: "Olafur Eliasson: Eliasson’s work is like a giant kaleidoscope, composed of forty-three prism-shaped columns of varying widths, which are placed along the walkway in the Grotto around the pool. The columns are illuminated from the inside. Two of the sides are covered with mirrors and the third is covered in a yellow blown glass mosaic. Visitors are invited to circulate amongst them, activating an endless interplay of reflections." (Photo © Iwan Baan, 2014)
Day 23: "Framework: 200 wooden beams supporting the light-weight glass."
