Dezeen Magazine

Frank Gehry's Fondation Louis Vuitton gets set to open in Paris

News: Frank Gehry's arts centre for a cultural foundation established by fashion brand Louis Vuitton is nearing completion in the Jardin d'Acclimatation, Paris.

Set to open in October, the Fondation Louis Vuitton will provide a permanent centre for the charitable organisation centred around the promotion of contemporary arts both in France and internationally.

Frank Gehry's Fondation Louis Vuitton gets set to open in Paris
Photography by Iwan Baan

Designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry to resemble a cloud of glass, the building's form is provided by twelve curving sails, made up of 3,600 glass panels.

Eleven exhibition galleries will accommodate a permanent collection of contemporary art, as well as temporary exhibitions and artists' commissions. The centre will also offer a 350-seat auditorium, meeting and events spaces, and education facilities.

Frank Gehry's Fondation Louis Vuitton gets set to open in Paris

Terraces on the upper levels will offer visitors stretching views across the late 19th-century park, which is located in the northern part of the Bois de Boulogne.

The Fondation Louis Vuitton will open to the public on 27 October with an exhibition showcasing the architecture of the building, running in tandem with an exhibition of Gehry's work at the Centre Pompidou.

Frank Gehry's Fondation Louis Vuitton gets set to open in Paris
Photograph taken during construction

Frank Gehry's first building in France was the American Centre in Paris, completed in 1994. Other projects designed by the architect in Europe include the iconic Guggenheim Bilbao and the 2008 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London.