Fine Arts Museum of Lille

The idea of Alain Bony was to grant a new dimension to the project and avoid the simplicity of just adding colour, without a deeper thought. This is why the inspiration on the choice of colours for the facade of the museum’s extension was taken from the ancient technique of picture frames, in which a warm red primer called bole was applied before gilding them with leaves of gold.

The idea consisted on bringing it to a greater, more contemporary scale and disposing it behind a glass just like a piece of art. This conveyed the building a whole unique identity while still leaving the prominence to the original building of the museum, which is constantly reflected on the brand new facade.