ABSTRACT
Palais de Tokyo is located in the west wing of the former Palais des Musees d’art modern, built in 1937 at the bank of the Seine, at the Quai de Tokio. From 2002, the west wing has housed a centre for contemporary art, called Palais de Tokyo, after the original name of the street where it is located. The architects Lacaton & Vassal were approached to renovate the Palais de Tokyo and update it for its new use. The architects were inspired by Cedric Price’s Fun Palace, where boundaries between different functions in a building disappeared completely, and all spaces are flexible and open for various uses and interventions. The first phase of transformation was done in 2001 and the second phase in 2011–2012, following the same concept but extending the gallery space from 7,000 to 22,000 square metres.
