the bouroullecs and flos light up tadao ando's bourse de commerce

ronan and erwan bouroullec present a lighting project for tadao ando’s soon-to-open bourse de commerce – pinault collection in paris (read more here) in partnership with italian light manufacturer flos. the world-renowned french designers have filled with light the entrance, the colossal staircase and the restaurant of the long-awaited museum which will house the pinault collection. commissioned by françois pinault himself, the project was conceived in dialogue with jean-jacques aillagon and martin bethnod, and was manufactures by flos bespoke.

(main) image: ronan and erwan bouroullec with vertical light, modular luminaire especially designed for the bourse de commerce – pinault collection, paris
© luca caizzi, courtesy of flos
© tadao ando architect & associates, nem / niney et marca architectes / agence pierre-antoine gatier
© studio bouroullec
(above) image: bourse de commerce – pinault collection, paris
© tommaso sartori, courtesy of flos
© tadao ando architect & associates, nem / niney et marca architectes / agence pierre-antoine gatier

the bouroullec’s lighting project for the bourse de commerce – pinault collection in paris expresses the power of a dialogue between architecture and design, history and contemporary times; and has been developed with delicacy and respect thanks to a unique technical know-how. ‘we didn’t have to illuminate the exhibition spaces but passage areas,’ said the designers. ‘the stairs and the entrance hall (areas of period architecture), and the restaurant (which is completely new). this is why we focused on the design of light in its relationship with what it illuminates but also on the scenic presence of the sources when there is no artificial light: during the day, when visitors flood the space. what sets up stairs and entrance hall today has therefore been worked, designed, and imagined to be switched on but above all switched off.’

vertical light
modular luminaire especially designed by ronan and erwan bouroullec for the bourse de commerce – pinault collection, paris
© luca caizzi, courtesy of flos
© tadao ando architect & associates, nem / niney et marca architectes / agence pierre-antoine gatier
© studio bouroullec

the entrance hall features a floating and vibrant light composed of five tubular elements of glass and aluminum measuring six meters each positioned in parallel. dubbed horizontal lights, this lighting installation is suspended from the ceiling above the entrance, in a group of five. the glass cylinders have been made in murano glass and boast an organic shape. ‘it is not a technical glass,’ explained ronan and erwan bouroullec. ‘but a material that is never the same, almost alive, inserted in aluminum extrusions. the result we wanted to achieve was precise but at the same time fluctuating and vibrant, just like the space that welcomes it. not having to deal with the technical areas, we worked on sensuality, on the color of light and on the way it related with the details of the period architecture that tadao ando has restored to its former glory.’

horizontal light
modular luminaire especially designed by ronan and erwan bouroullec for the bourse de commerce – pinault collection, paris
© tommaso sartori, courtesy of flos
© tadao ando architect & associates, nem / niney et marca architectes / agence pierre-antoine gatier
© studio bouroullec

for the staircase, the bouroullecs have suspended three vertical lights, connected to each other and arranged in a triangle. a huge space between the ceiling and ground floor is covered by these 17-meter luminaries, guaranteeing monumentality. ‘for these enormous chandeliers we have chosen a more precise processing for the glass than that of the horizontal light,’ the designers continued. ‘the aluminum we used is also more delicate and finer: the glass has been blown with great care in the molds and it is protected by the metal grid for a shell effect.’

vertical light
modular luminaire especially designed by ronan and erwan bouroullec for the bourse de commerce – pinault collection, paris
© tommaso sartori, courtesy of flos
© tadao ando architect & associates, nem / niney et marca architectes / agence pierre-antoine gatier
© studio bouroullec

even in the restaurant, an area of contemporary design that lacks the challenge of confrontation with period architecture, ronan and erwan bouroullec kept the dialogue between opposites alive. ‘in the restaurant we partly used the invention of vertical light but also set up the individual tables with simple, nice lamps, which rest on a wrought iron base, and work with a small, very soft, rechargeable light source.’

ronan and erwan bouroullec at the bourse de commerce – pinault collection, paris
© luca caizzi, courtesy of flos
© tadao ando architect & associates, nem / niney et marca architectes / agence pierre-antoine gatier
© studio bouroullec

vertical light
installation at the restaurant of the bourse de commerce – pinault collection, paris
© tommaso sartori, courtesy of flos
© tadao ando architect & associates, nem / niney et marca architectes / agence pierre-antoine gatier
© studio bouroullec

vertical light – detail
© tommaso sartori, courtesy of flos
© tadao ando architect & associates, nem / niney et marca architectes / agence pierre-antoine gatier
© studio bouroullec

table lamp
portable and rechargable table lamp especially designed by ronan and erwan bouroullec for the restaurant of the bourse de commerce – pinault collection, paris
© tommaso sartori, courtesy of flos
© tadao ando architect & associates, nem / niney et marca architectes / agence pierre-antoine gatier
© studio bouroullec

vertical light
© tommaso sartori, courtesy of flos
© tadao ando architect & associates, nem / niney et marca architectes / agence pierre-antoine gatier
© studio bouroullec

project info:

avec l’aimable autorisation de la bourse de commerce – pinault collection, paris
architects: tadao ando architect & associates, nem / niney et marca architectes, agence pierre-antoine gatier
designers: ronan & erwan bouroullec
photographers: tommaso sartori, luca caizzi
movie director: leone balduzzi
art director: elena ottavi