OMA to create contemporary art gallery for Galeries Lafayette in Paris.
The Galeries Lafayette Foundation will take over all five storeys of an old industrial building in Le Marais – one of Paris’ oldest neighbourhoods – just east of the Centre Pompidou.
Rem Koolhaas’ firm plans to restore the U-shaped building back to its original condition and complement it with a new exhibition tower, which will occupy the existing courtyard.
The tower will feature two sets of motorised levels that can be split up to create a total of four mobile platforms. These will be able to move up and down to align with different floors, allowing exhibitions to extend beyond the gallery walls.
“The mobile floors offer a new curatorial dimension, complementing the traditional use of the preserved structure,” said OMA in a statement.
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“The architectural concept was derived from the need for flexibility – a common requirement for cultural institutions – and from the restrictions applied to the site by the city heritage authorities,” said OMA.
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