The Bourse de Commerce — Pinault Collection, Paris

Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have filled with light the entrance, the monumental stairs and the restaurant of the Bourse de Commerce, the new contemporary museum of the Pinault Collection in Paris. The project, commissioned by François Pinault, conceived in dialogue with Jean-Jacques Aillagon and Martin Bethenod, and manufactured by Flos Bespoke, expresses the power of a dialogue between architecture and design, between history and contemporary times, developed with delicacy and respect thanks to a unique technical know-how.

The Bourse de Commerce is the new museum of the Pinault Collection in Paris. The building embodies four centuries of architectural innovation and technical prowess. After renovation works led by Tadao Ando Architect & Associates together with the agency NeM / Niney & Marca Architectes, and the agency Pierre-Antoine Gatier, chief architect for French National Heritage, it will open this coming Saturday May 22 to the public.

Contemporary interventions on locations that are filled with history are always challenging for designers. But the lighting project that Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec developed for the Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection in Paris with Flos Bespoke was doubly so. On the one hand, for the exceptional nature of the space, originally conceived in the eighteenth century: with its huge glass dome, the Bourse is an absolute landmark of the French capital, an imposing building full of history. On the other hand, for the system with which Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec lighting project was supposed to interact: the reinterpretation by Tadao Ando, the architect who, on other occasions and often for François Pinault, is able to transform palaces into cultural temples, with great sobriety mixed with poetry (all while providing contemporary art pieces with a powerful voice).

The design challenges: a dialogue with architecture and the creation of an atmosphere

The dialogue with architecture, both ancient and modern, and the creation of an atmosphere suitable to accompany the visitor on his journey of discovery of the building, its history and its contents: these were the central nodes on which Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec lighting project was developed after François Pinault entrusted them with design of the complete interior and exterior fitting of the Bourse.

The entrance hall: a floating and vibrant light

For the entrance hall, the special response was a Horizontal Light: an interlocking structure composed of five tubular elements of glass and aluminum measuring six meters each and parallelly positioned. The Horizontal Lights are installations suspended from the ceiling above the entrance, in a groupage of five. Each glass cylinder was made near Venice with cast glass technology and has a simple but also “organic” shape. “It is not a technical glass”, explain Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, “but a material that is never the same, almost alive, inserted in aluminum extrusions. The result we wanted to achieve was precise but at the same time fluctuating and vibrant, just like the space that welcomes it”. The final effect is very delicate but with a high aesthetic impact. “Not having to deal with the technical areas, we worked on sensuality, on the color of light and on the way it related with the details of the period architecture that Tadao Ando has restored to its former glory”.

The staircase: a monumental but delicate atmosphere

For the attentive observer, the situation changes in the two stairways on the sides of the entrance, lit by five suspended Vertical Lights connected to each other in a pentagon, and for the spectacular staircase C, formed by two spiral staircases that intersect, where Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec positioned three Vertical Lights arranged in a triangle. The monumentality is guaranteed by the light that marks the huge space between the ceiling and the ground floor, covering it all with its 17 meters in length. “For these enormous chandeliers”, explain Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, “we have chosen a more precise processing for the glass than that of the Horizontal Light. The aluminum we used is also more delicate and finer: the glass has been blown with great care in the molds and it is protected by the metal grid for a shell effect”. The ability to move around the chandeliers allows the visitor to enjoy their qualities from multiple points of view. “Observed from below, the installation is delicate, almost transparent and ethereal. As you go up, its decisive physical presence is progressively affirmed”, they explain.

The restaurant: the precision of contemporary times

Even in the restaurant, an area of contemporary design that lacks the challenge of confrontation with period architecture, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec kept the dialogue between opposites alive. “In the restaurant we partly used the invention of vertical light but also set up the individual tables with simple, nice lamps, which rest on a wrought iron base, and work with a small, very soft, rechargeable light source”.

Flos and Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec: innovation that is built over time

Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have been carrying out research on suspended lighting structures with Flos for years. For the manufacturing of the impressive luminaires that set up the Bourse de Commerce, the designers entrusted Flos Bespoke, the division of Group Flos specialized in the development and production of customized lighting and tailor-made unique solutions for large projects, where each device is designed and developed according to the most challenging architectural requirements.