Frank Gehry’s Fondation Louis Vuitton gets a technicolor makeover

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by The Spaces, a digital publication exploring new ways to live and work.

French artist Daniel Buren has turned the Fondation Louis Vuitton into a giant kaleidoscope for his latest installation, Observatory of Light.

The 3,600 sheets of glass that make up the outer sails of the 2014 building – designed by Frank Gehry – now have an extra colorful coating, which filters the light entering and bouncing off the structure.

Reflections inside the space will change in form depending on the time of day and the season.

Bernard Arnault, president of the Fondation Louis Vuitton, described the Observatory of light as “a real dialogue with Frank Gehry and his building.”

Fondation Louis Vuitton's gift to Paris —

Fondation Louis Vuitton -- the philanthropic wing of luxury conglomerate LVMH -- has opened a new contemporary art museum in Paris, designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry.

Fondation Louis Vuitton's gift to Paris —

Gehry was inspired by glass garden architecture from the late 19th-century. The building has already been nicknamed "the glass bird" and "the iceberg."

Fondation Louis Vuitton's gift to Paris —

From inside the museum, visitors can look out onto a modern fountain as well as the surrounding Bois de Boulogne, the second largest park in Paris.

Fondation Louis Vuitton's gift to Paris —

The unusual shape of Fondation Louis Vuitton recalls Gehry's other seminal works, like the Guggenheim Art Museum Bilbao, which he completed in 1997.

Fondation Louis Vuitton's gift to Paris —

The building also has a 350-seat auditorium for live shows, including a series of retrospective concerts from electronic band Kraftwerk this November.

Fondation Louis Vuitton's gift to Paris —

LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, the richest man in France, first met with Gehry to plan the commission in 2001.

Fondation Louis Vuitton's gift to Paris —

Fondation Louis Vuitton's first temporary exhibition will feature a group of commissions inspired by the building's architecture.

Fondation Louis Vuitton's gift to Paris —

Other works on display include Inside the Horizon, a specially commissioned piece by Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, who is known for creatively incorporating light into his installations.

Fondation Louis Vuitton's gift to Paris —

Mann im Matsch (Man in the Mud), a large installation from Thomas Schütte, is part of the museum's permanent collection.

Fondation Louis Vuitton's gift to Paris —

Welsh conceptual artist Cerith Wyn Evans also contributed a commissioned work.

Fondation Louis Vuitton's gift to Paris —

Ellsworth Kelly also created a location-specific piece for the Fondation. Spectrum VIII, a stage curtain, was created from one of his previous works.

Fondation Louis Vuitton's gift to Paris —

On the performance art side, Oliver Beer's Composition For a New Museum has three people singing in different corners of a room to demonstrate the building's acoustics.

Fondation Louis Vuitton's gift to Paris

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‘[Buren’s] work responds magnificently to the architecture, in line with his approach, going back to the 1970s, that sees a coming together of colors, transparency and light,’ he added.

From 28 May, children’s workshops will run alongside the installation, aiming to engage them with color, light and opacity.

In early June, there will also be three performances of 3 times a Hut, a theatrical experience Buren created in collaboration with circus stars Dan and Fabien Demuynck.

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