THE SILO — BILLARANT COLLECTION

THE SILO —
BILLARANT COLLECTION

MARINES
FRANCE, 2013

CULTURE

PR–466

The Silo tells the story of the transformation of a heritage agricultural building into an exhibition space dedicated to contemporary art.

GALLERY

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PROGRAM

Study and support mission for the transformation of an old grain silo into an exhibition space dedicated to the private collection of the Billarant family.

DETAIL

Situation

route de Bréançon, Marines, France

Year

2013

Status

Direct commission

Site area

4 200 m²

Built surface

2 600 m²

Client

Mr and Mrs Billarant

Architect

Dominique Perrault Architecte

Implementation architect

Xavier Prédine-Hug

Interior designer and signage

Gaëlle Lauriot-Prévost

DESCRIPTION

In 2007, Françoise and Jean-Philippe Billarant acquired a former concrete silo in Marines, built for a grain cooperative and disused since 1962, to house their private collection. This powerful and radical industrial structure became the basis for a new cultural project.

With the support of Perrault Architecture, the owners invited four young architects to consider the building’s renovation. The project was ultimately entrusted to Xavier Prédine-Hug, a former collaborator of Philippe Starck, who designed 2,600 square meters of exhibition space spread over two levels and a mezzanine.

Exteriorly, the original architecture has been preserved in its entirety. Only two artworks signal the building’s new purpose: a sculpture by François Morellet installed on the forecourt and a textual intervention by Lawrence Weiner affixed to the pediment.

The collection comprises works by some forty artists, most of whom the collectors met in the 1980s and 1990s.

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