Ingres Museum Storerooms, FR - Montauban, 2008
Ingres Museum Storerooms
Like a solid locked box to safeguard precious artwork, or a relic whose golden decoration reflects the importance of its content, this building has an even shape and finely decorated cladding. It is made of glass and concrete panels, whose engraved and moulded motif is the print of a revisited Ingres drawing. The rhythm created by the alternating matte concrete and glass reflecting the greenery gives the facade resonance and depth. This is reinforced by the ground’s elevation: to the east, the building is fixed in the ground, whilst to the west, the ground gives way and the box looks like it is floating. This movement towards the park’s main pedestrian entrance culminates in the three golden elements marking the north-west corner of the building. At night, a light fitted in the cladding gives the facade a new design, the box reverses its relationship with the park by reflecting light back onto the greenery.