The French luxury goods conglomerate
A gigantic glass-encased structure overlooking the Jardin d’Acclimatation, a popular children’s park, is coming up on the northern edge of the Bois de Boulogne in western Paris. Visible from far away sailing above the trees, the Fondation Louis Vuitton appears to be a ship floating on water, mirroring the river nearby. American-Canadian architect Frank Gehry, who’s heading the project, terms it an iceberg encircled by a cloud in what is a revolution in the use of glass in architecture, where translucent panels are positioned to reflect different colors and light patterns throughout the day. Having built a reputation in fashion, the French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH (Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton, which includes Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Givenchy among its many brands) desired a more permanent place in the art world and unveiled a striking design by the 85-year-old architect housing a new cultural foundation that Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO of LVMH, views as a logical follow-up to his company’s extensive sponsorship of the arts.
Mostly though, this monument dedicated to contemporary art (it includes a restaurant, 360-seat auditorium and forum and lower-level gallery that may be used for live fashion shows) will demonstrate Arnault’s role as the penultimate tastemaker and LVMH as an institution devoted to fostering high culture in France and abroad. The new building may also allow Arnault to score a publicity coup against his luxury goods rival, François Pinault, owner of Christie’s, Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, who abandoned plans to build a museum for his contemporary art collection outside Paris, after years of red tape, and acquired the Palazzo Grassi in Venice instead.