Musée d’Orsay
Paris, France
In 2009 the Musée d’Orsay launched an extensive renovation and reorganization project that lasted over two years. The underlying aim was to transform the museum’s Amont Pavilion, which had once been Gare d’Orsay’s locomotive hall, into an exhibition space. While conversion of this wing was taking place, the large Impressionist Gallery was unusable, which led the museum to reconsider the entire exhibition area. Jean-Michel Wilmotte was commissioned to completely remodel the Impressionist Gallery and create a temporary exhibition space inside the former Column Gallery.
The architecture
The architectural design of the new Impressionist Gallery aimed to preserve the quality of the existing hall and establish a balance between natural and artificial light. Adding partial false ceilings divided the space to create human scale display areas on either side of the soaring, monumental space in the center. Natural light floods the double-height central area, while artificial light in the lower-ceilinged side galleries can be carefully modulated to safely illuminate the works. The design retains views of the Seine to counterbalance the exhibition, and central seating provides views of the display areas on both sides of the room.
The display cases
Goppion and Jean-Michel Wilmotte collaboratively developed airtight display cases with glass tops for the new Impressionist Gallery. Bright and discreet, these cases are distinguished by their extraordinary lightness, made possible by using miniaturized mechanical parts. They rely on a special opening system that incorporates stabilizers and extremely low-profile articulated quadrilateral hinges rendered nearly invisible by their integration into the top rail.
The Terrasse Lille Sculpture Gallery also uses Goppion cases. These cases, up to 3 meters long, attach to the terrace parapets. They have relative humidity stabilizing systems and feature special manually operated sliding doors that a single staff member can easily open to gain access to the display area behind.
