RENAISSANCE REVIVAL. MUSEE FABRE. MONTPELLIER. BROCHET - LAJUS - PUEYO, E. NEBOUT ARCHITECTES

The Musee Fabre, a complex of buildings rich in history but until recently disorganised and not particularly adapted to a structured museography, was in need of major renovation. After four years of study and works, this has now been accomplished and the Museum has been given a new dignity able to offer its visitors a regained sense of grandeur. Since 2 February 2007, the Musee Fabre has entered a new world of modernity - but without losing its soul. While all the jewels of its architectural past have been conserved and even finally revealed they have been integrated into a contemporary architecture that places emphasis on the fluidity and freedom of the museographic route. The highlight of the route is a glowing glass screen wall whose radical treatment lies between minimalism and abstraction. The route bears witness to an approach shared by all those involved in this architectural and cultural project - the architects from the Bordeaux architectural agency (Brochet, Lajus and Pueyo) and the Montpellier agency (Atelier d'architecture Emmanuzl Nebout), the curator Michel Hilaire, the painter Pierre Soulages and others.