The labors of Hercules begin at the Grand Palais to restore light and space

The ensemble, classified as a historic monument, made up of three buildings built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900, will reopen partially in spring 2024 (for the nave and adjoining galleries) and completely in spring 2025.

Decided ten years ago due to deep degradation, the site was revised at the end of 2020 for a "more sober and ecological" concept, at the request of the Ministry of Culture.

Tearing down walls and partitions, fire safety, accessibility, restoration of roofs undertaken since 2016 (20.000 m² out of 35.000 m²), air conditioning, new routes ... all this must be done with an envelope approved in 2016: 466 million euros financed through grants, borrowing and sponsorship.

The Grand Palais is 72.000 m², one km in circumference, 200.000 tonnes of stone, more iron than the Eiffel Tower, 280 tonnes of glass ...

Among the most expensive works of Hercules in the initial plan, the excavation of thousands of square meters under the nave was abandoned. "There were very strong risks when digging in a flood zone. The previous project broke a lot of things. By maintaining the existing one, we could keep the same surface", explains Emmanuel Marcovitch, Deputy Director-General of the Réunion des Musées nationals-Grand Palais, beneficiary of all the buildings.

An "ephemeral Grand Palais" was built by the architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte at the Champ de Mars, until the nave could accommodate in 2024 the events of the Olympic Games, fairs and parades under the largest glass roof in Europe. elegant reseda green frames.

For exhibitions at the Palais d'Antin, which has housed the Palais de la Découverte since 1937, another ephemeral structure, "les Etincelles", will open in the XNUMXth arrondissement.

Rediscover an "architecture of light"

Symbol of compartmentalization as absurd as it is rudimentary, a bicycle chain recently locked a forgotten door, separating the national galleries of the Grand Palais from the spaces of the Palais de la Découverte, a public establishment dependent on Universcience. "We could exhibit this old chain as a souvenir," jokes Belgian art historian Chris Dercon, head of the RMN-Grand Palais since 2019.

The two museum entities will remain but "a greater porosity will be established between the arts and sciences, and their respective audiences", hopes François Quéré, Deputy Managing Director of Universcience.

A 5.000 m² free space will link the Champs-Elysées and the banks of the Seine: a single entrance will allow visitors to wander for free, enjoying cultural events without buying a ticket.

"We will remove everything that is not interesting. This building was partitioned with, in the 1960s, up to sixteen occupants" who had offices there, says Chris Dercon.

The project will also make it possible to find its "architecture of light", he adds.

Designating to the AFP journalist who came to the site the vaults of the Antin Palace, Christelle Linck, communication manager of Universcience, shows the wear and tear of time: "They are under a net, masonry elements fall. The facings are stained. Water infiltrates through the canopies ".

Everywhere, exhibition spaces will be regained. A fun children's gallery will be set up under the Rotonde d'Antin, on the site of the old horse riding arena.

Around the nave, 3.700 m² of restored balconies will be returned to the public. And a thermal slab and filters under the canopy will prevent excessive cold and heat.

A reception capacity increased by 60%, thanks to the development of emergency exits, this is what the 13.500 m² nave will gain: 9.000 people will be able to cross paths there against 5.600 before the pandemic. A necessity in anticipation of the crowds for the 2024 Olympics.

Outside too, the Grand Palais has undergone its facelift. The surrounding gardens will be redeveloped. While statues had disappeared, stolen, and others fell to pieces at the risk of injuring passers-by, the whole, under a net since 2018, will be restored. Contemporary designers will be called upon to restore those missing.

Chris Dercon: restoring light and space at the Grand Palais

The goal of the Grand Palais renovation project is to push the interior walls and restore light and space, underlines Belgian art historian Chris Dercon, head of the Réunion des Musées Nationaux-Grand Palais since 2019.

Q: A 120-year-old building is going to be renovated. Will it be a daring transformation or a classic renovation?

A: We're not going to reinvent anything. Everything was there but you have to rediscover everything. The Grand Palais is an island, a district ... Was it necessary to throw away all the interventions of the past? Not at all! It's up to us to find the interesting, decisive moments to keep.

Partitioned, compartmentalized, this great palace was getting smaller and smaller, it had become a black box!

We followed his journey throughout the twentieth century. It was also a work of archeology. Sometimes objects of 3 or 4 centimeters have led us to say: no, there we have to find other solutions!

During the first confinement, I had time to explore it, day and night. We rediscovered magnificent things, layers of disappeared colors, old graffiti, for example one of the designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac.

Some places were lost, unloved spaces, sometimes impossible to find, often unusable.

We are therefore going to remove what is not interesting. This is not a simple upgrade, we are reworking the ideas from the beginning that were completely lost.

Q: What vision do you have for this place that you define as a cultural island?

A: Raynold Arnould, this visionary, former director of the National Galleries of the Grand Palais appointed in the 1960s by André Malraux, said that it was necessary to create a cultural center for the XNUMXth century, he also wanted to create an educational library.

These were also the founding ideas for the Center Pompidou: a forum, a piazza ...

From the very beginnings of the Grand Palais, it offered a mix: the artistic fair, events, the industry fair. We had much more than exhibitions here: for example Peer Gynt, from the Comédie Française, the Radio City Rockettes, Prince in concert ...

This is called the Zeitgeist, the spirit of the times. In museums around the world, we ask to do everything: events, including commercial, exhibitions not only of plastic arts, but also of architecture, dance, performance ...

Another dimension is to find vertical and horizontal light. It is an architecture of light: during the night too, the light of the city enters the Grand Palais and it is magnificent. It is also a building of colors that must be found.

Q: How to communicate the exhibition galleries of the Grand Palais and the Palais de la Découverte, to create a dialogue between art and science?

A: Our situation is almost unique, since the Discovery Palace opened in 1937 in the West Wing.

This is a fantastic opportunity because today the two poles of democracy are the arts and science. And a lot of artists talk about their interest in science. At Arnault and at Pinault, more and more exhibitions revolve around art and science.

Interview by Jean-Louis de la Vaissiere