A couple of years back, looking at the derelict 1929 building, no one would have bet that Martell would open a cultural foundation in the very heart of Cognac. 'The Bauhaus-style building designed by Jean Chalard was in ruins; it had to be completely recomposed. It’s almost as if it had been de-listed and needed to be re-listed. It stands, however, as a vital part of the Martell heritage,' explains principal architect Olivier Brochet of Brochet/Lajus/Pueyo.
The new foundation is already unfolding as the future contemporary art museum the city lacks. Vincent Lamouroux's immersive art installation By Nature takes over the rough-and-ready ground floor in between the concrete pillars, with an all-white landscape that looks altogether muted, ice-cold and exotic. Testing notions of time and biological evolution, the white-lime covered scenery seems poised and transfixed. Composed of sand (from the flasks), wood (from the barrels), glass crystals and plants, it transfigures the materials used for the fabrication of the brand's Cognac bottles.
'Our vision for the Foundation revolves around the idea of a creative ecosystem, a transversal platform. [With] a brand new visual identity, an immersive installation by Vincent Lamouroux on the ground floor, a boutique area and the "Passage", which links the street to the heritage cellars, the Martell brand is catching up with history, and modernity,' brand director Axelle de Buffévent explains.
Spearheaded by director and curator Nathalie Viot, the cultural programme, she says, 'will encompass art, design, architecture, crafts and technology. At the core, we’ll experiment and challenge Martell’s savoir-faire with the help of designers, artists and the local community.' Further along the way, the building’s six floors will be renovated; the ground floor and rooftop terrace will reopen to the public in spring 2018, thus increasing the number of gallery spaces dedicated to artist residencies, exhibitions and research. The 6,000 sq m of the Foundation will be completed by 2020 with a spectacular panoramic restaurant at the top.
The foundation's 'Passage' area will link the street to Martell's heritage cellars
A prelude to the museum's future offerings, Vincent Lamouroux's immersive installation By Nature takes over the ground floor
The scenery is composed of sand (from Martell's flasks), wood (from the barrels), glass crystals and plants
INFORMATION
‘By Nature’ is on view until 31 January 2017. For more information, visit the Martell website
ADDRESS
Avenue Paul Firino Martell
16100 Cognac
-
First look – Bottega Veneta and Flos release a special edition of the Model 600Gino Sarfatti’s fan favourite from 1966 is born again with Bottega Veneta’s signature treatments gracing its leather base
-
We stepped inside the Stedelijk Museum's newest addition in AmsterdamAmsterdam's Stedelijk Museum has unveiled its latest addition, the brand-new Don Quixote Sculpture Hall by Paul Cournet of Rotterdam creative agency Cloud
-
On a sloped Los Angeles site, a cascade of green 'boxes' offers inside outside livingUnStack, a house by FreelandBuck, is a cascading series of bright green volumes, with mountain views
-
Lucia Moholy’s retrospective captures her life's work behind the lens‘Lucia Moholy: Exposures’ is an appraisal of a true virtuoso of 20th-century photography, opening at Kunsthalle Prague
-
A new collective revitalises the legacy of female Bauhaus artistsLuxury skincare brand La Prairie has established a collective homage to the Bauhaus with five young female artists mentored by Sabine Marcelis
-
Back to the Bauhaus school days of Swiss polymath Max BillAn exhibition at Hauser & Wirth Zurich explores the multilayered bonds formed between the artist and his fellow students at the Dessau institution
-
Christina Kruse’s Bauhaus balancing act defies gravity in New YorkBauhaus protagonist Oskar Schlemmer inspired artist Christina Kruse’s solo exhibition of new sculptural work at Helwaser Gallery
-
The trailblazing women of BauhausThe remarkable female artists at the heart of Bauhaus overcame the societal expectations of their time to become pioneers in their own right
-
Meet the Berlin-based artist melding Bauhaus and ancient Rome -
Josef Albers and the modernist maestro’s musical influences -
The Anni Albers retrospective at Tate Modern anticipates 100 years of Bauhaus
