24 Oct 2014
French President among guests at Louis Vuitton Foundation launch
BY Tom Anstey
French President François Hollande was on-hand this week for the opening of The Frank Gehry-designed Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris.
The €100m (US$132m, £80m), 126,000sq ft (11,705sq m) Louis Vuitton Foundation – designed to resemble “a cloud of glass” – includes 11 exhibition galleries dedicated to Vuitton’s private collection, alongside a space for temporary exhibitions in addition to a 350-seat auditorium.
Terraces have also been constructed on the building’s upper levels to provide panoramic views of Paris and the Jardin d’Acclimation, which Gehry says he used as his inspiration for the project. This is Gehry’s first project in Paris since the American Center, now the Cinémathèque Française, which opened in 1994.
In addition to Hollande, Fleur Pellerin, minister of Culture and Communication, Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris, and Frank Gehry were also in attendance for the launch.
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