Overview

• The new space occupies 2, place du Palais-Royal in Paris and replaces a maze of interior partitions with open volumes intended to engage passersby at street level.
• The building previously housed the Louvre des antiquaires from 1978 to 2019, subdivided into roughly 240 small boutiques over three floors.
• Jean Nouvel sums up his approach as removing everything possible except indispensable load-bearing elements to extend space.
• The project is described as a large-scale construction site overseen by Nouvel that is nearing its public debut.
• Coverage cites Jean-Michel Othoniel’s 1997 Paysage amoureux as the type of work envisioned to converse with the city through transparent frontage.