Louvre-Lens
Designed by SANAA
Selected in 2005 from 124 different entries, the design by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the Japanese agency SANAA fulfilled many of the project’s scientific and cultural objectives. Their design, prompted by the idea of creating a gentle transition with the surroundings through transparency and openness to the outside, rejects ostentatious gestures in favour of architecture that is accessible and discreet without being mundane.
The Louvre-Lens was built on a 20-hectare site that was occupied by mine shafts. This coal mining site was recolonised by nature after it was closed down in 1960.
Deviating from the large vertical structures often favoured by architects, SANAA decided to respond to the very linear, horizontal architecture inherited from the mines with a very long building on a single level.
The main structure follows the gentle slope of the site without ever exceeding six metres in height, leaving the tops of the trees visible in places. The architecture thus merges into its surroundings in a subtle and respectful way, without overwhelming it.
Louvre-Lens
Designed by SANAA
Selected in 2005 from 124 different entries, the design by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the Japanese agency SANAA fulfilled many of the project’s scientific and cultural objectives. Their design, prompted by the idea of creating a gentle transition with the surroundings through transparency and openness to the outside, rejects ostentatious gestures in favour of architecture that is accessible and discreet without being mundane.
The Louvre-Lens was built on a 20-hectare site that was occupied by mine shafts. This coal mining site was recolonised by nature after it was closed down in 1960.
Deviating from the large vertical structures often favoured by architects, SANAA decided to respond to the very linear, horizontal architecture inherited from the mines with a very long building on a single level.
The main structure follows the gentle slope of the site without ever exceeding six metres in height, leaving the tops of the trees visible in places. The architecture thus merges into its surroundings in a subtle and respectful way, without overwhelming it.