Bouroullec Pinault Collection, Bourse de Commerce

Invited to design the public square and furnishings, exterior and interior, for the new Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection contemporary art museum, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have created a wide-ranging project to define each space. Each arrangement has been used to instil a particular atmosphere within its context, and is the result of detailed research and collaboration with a variety of highly skilled manufacturers and craftsmen.

Arriving in the Rue de Viarmes, visitors to the museum are heralded by three vast sails shimmering in the breeze like rippling liquid. Bearing neither motif nor insignia, these majestic, 20m2 flags summon passers-by, capturing and reflecting light against the Paris sky, their constant movement echoed by gently rotating windmills at their extremity. The flags are carried high on 13m flagpoles that slot seamlessly into specially cast, boulder-like forms at their bases, each weighing around 3 tonnes.

Arranged around the building, these masts are united by a series of seven low bench–barriers, each 12 metres long, that follow the curve of the narrow pedestrian street that encircles the building. Based on a system of specially made aluminium-bronze tubes, these elegant furnishings emphasise the curving geometry of the building, providing seating and creating a new, eminently Parisian public space for museum visitors and passers-by alike.

Of extreme simplicity, the monumental Luce Orizzontale light suspended in the entrance hall brings together the pinnacles of technical skill and craftsmanship. An interlocking structure, the light is composed of five bars of tubular pieces in cast glass and aluminium. Each horizontal bar measures 6 metres and is composed of 30 cylinders of cast glass specially developed by WonderGlass in their workshops near Venice.

To the rear of the building is the grand stairwell containing a spectacular double-helix staircase, at the centre of which Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have installed a third Luce Verticale, comprised of three vertical elements, each formed of 25 pieces of glass, arranged in triangular formation. Monumentality is guaranteed by this great light, whose 12 metres span the entire height, from ground-floor to ceiling.

The furniture was specially adapted for the restaurant by Magis from the existing Officina collection in wrought iron, also used for the lamps. Wrought iron, felted wool, rugs like lichen on rock, the references lie somewhere between the Bras family’s native Aubrac and the very carefully selected materials and skilful assemblies that enable the gentle and ingenious simplicity of the Bouroullecs’ work.