Inauguration of the Louis Vuitton Foundation

The first visitors could view an exhibition devoted to collections of contemporary art.

1 November 2014 - Events - France

On Monday 20 October 2014, just a week before it opened to the public, the Louis Vuitton Foundation was inaugurated in Paris in the presence of Bernard Arnault, chairman of the LVMH Group, French President Francois Hollande, architect Frank Gehry, Xavier Huillard, chairman and CEO of VINCI, and numerous guests. Located in the Bois de Boulogne, on the edge of the Jardin d’Acclimatation, this new Paris foundation launched a first cycle of exhibitions on 27 October 2014, one devoted to the construction of the building, the others to collections of contemporary art. With a net floor area of 13,700 sq. metres, the building is characterized by its 12 huge glass roofs, covering a highly complex structure associating 19 “icebergs” clad with white, ultra-high-performance fibre concrete panels with 47 glazed facades. To create this building-sculpture, VINCI Construction France, within the framework of a general contracting contract, used an innovative Building Information Modeling (BIM) technical design process. Group companies were involved in the works, including Petit (lead contractor), GTM Bâtiment, Dodin Campenon Bernard (VINCI Construction), Santerne IDF Tertiaire and Axians VP (VINCI Energies France), as well as a very large number of partners. Since its construction of this exceptional building, VINCI has become a partner of the Louis Vuitton Foundation and is sponsoring the Pompidou Centre in Paris for the first retrospective of Frank Gehry’s entire œuvre (8 October 2014 – 26 January 2015).