ABSTRACT
The postmodern dilemma between reusing historical buildings and newly built museums obviously had already existed in France since the Enlightenment. And while the French Revolution had placed museums in palaces, castles, churches, convents and other buildings from the Former Regime which were thus made available to all citizens, the proliferation in post-industrial France of museums and centres of contemporary art located in former factories, silos and warehouses was not without symbolism either. In 2005, the Foundation Samuel King, backed by the municipality, created the Museum of Modern Art in a central conservatory of the Popular Park which was restored by Chinese architect Liu Yuyang, a member of the Rem Koolhaas team. This has been a cultural contribution to a neighbourhood where the Shanghai Art Museum, the Shanghai Museum and the Shanghai Grand Theater were located. And there are similar occurrences in the capital, where the Millennium Art Museum (MAM) of Beijing was inaugurated in 2000.
