Frank Gehry’s glass sails seem to hover above a white sculptural core at Fondation Louis Vuitton. The building draws on the lightness of nineteenth-century glass garden architecture while using digitally designed forms and custom materials to create a shifting visual presence.
Quick facts
Frank Gehry designed the Fondation Louis Vuitton building, which opened to the public on 27 October 2014.
The building’s twelve glass sails use 3,600 individually shaped glass panels and surround 19,000 unique white Ductal fibre-reinforced concrete panels.
The Fondation occupies a one-hectare plot of Paris public land under a 55-year agreement beginning in 2007.
Get directions to Fondation Louis Vuitton. Confirm the visitor entrance and current access with the venue before travelling.
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From the trees of the Bois de Boulogne, the Fondation Louis Vuitton can seem less like a conventional museum than a glass ship caught in the act of turning. Frank Gehry’s twelve curved sails gather sky, foliage and reflections, while the white gallery volumes beneath them have acquired the nickname “icebergs.” The building is designed to change with weather and light: a clear day sharpens its edges; clouds and trees appear across its glass.
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