A contemporary art gallery inaugurated at Angers Cathedral

The gallery, built in light concrete and composed of three arches, was designed as an "extension" of the Saint-Maurice-Notre-Dame Cathedral to protect its 12th-century sculpted portal.

"Through this new gallery, we wanted to create a connection between Angers' past and Angers today," said Kengo Kuma in front of the building, accompanied by a translator.

The concrete is made from sand taken from the bed of the nearby Loire river, the architect explained.

"I believe in the link between the past and the present and between heritage and creation. I even think that one cannot exist without the other," said the Minister of Culture, Catherine Pégard.

Cleaning work had revealed traces of medieval and modern polychromy, which have since been restored. This portal is one of the rare surviving examples of polychromy in medieval cathedrals.

The protective gallery designed by Kengo Kuma, chosen in 2020 from among the projects of five architectural teams, "integrates harmoniously into a major heritage building and, more broadly, into its urban context," the Ministry of Culture stated at the time. The Minister at the time, Roselyne Bachelot, was present at the inauguration.

A gallery existed in the 13th century in the same place, in front of the cathedral. In response to criticism of the choice of a contemporary building, the mayor of Angers, Christophe Béchu, pointed out that there is no "reliable evidence" of what this vanished gallery looked like.

"This cathedral is a palimpsest. We rebuilt on stones, on different eras," the mayor added.

An internationally renowned architect, Kengo Kuma has an office in Paris and has been responsible in particular for the extension of the Albert Kahn museum in Boulogne-Billancourt and the design of the Saint-Denis Pleyel station.