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Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France
Located on the Seine’s left bank, the Musée d’Orsay
is housed in a breathtaking Beaux-Arts building originally
designed as the world’s first electrified urban railway
station. The original “Gare d’Orsay” was built on the
site of the old Palais d’Orsay, which had lain empty
since it burned in 1871 during the Paris Commune.
The building opened on Bastille Day, July 14, 1900,
to help celebrate Paris’s Fifth Universal Exhibition.
Designated a Historical Monument in 1978, it was
then recreated as a museum by Renaud Bardon,
Pierre Colboc, and Jean-Paul Philippon of the ACT
architecture group. Per the museum’s official history,
the new architects “highlighted the great hall, using
it as the main artery of the visit, and transformed
the magnificent glass awning into the museum’s
entrance.” Inside, Gae Aulenti adapted the enormous
station into museum spaces, unified via consistent
stone wall and floor surfaces. Opened in 1986,
the new museum brought together three major
art collections from the era 1848-1914. More than
three million visitors now come every year to see
works from artists including Cézanne, Courbet,
Degas, Gauguin, Manet, Monet, and Renoir.
