Photo © 2012 Musée du Louvre. Credit: Antoine Mongodin

With four days left until the opening of the Louvre’s new Arts of Islam gallery, the time is ripe for a sneak peak. Architizer recently posted new images of the Mario Bellini and Rudy Ricciotti-designed structure, which up until recently was only conceivable to most as a dreamy rendering. But now, as the project nears completion, we can begin to see just how this “magic carpet” will fly.

Though in rendering, the gallery’s golden roof gives off an iridescent rainbow sheen, photos of the construction show a significantly less lustrous gilding (though there is a chance that the right nighttime lighting may bring out a more dazzling spectacle). The structure is, nonetheless, marvelous in its fluid undulations, which appear to be most fully appreciated from an aerial perspective. Seen from the second level (pictured below), the massive roof seems to visibly succumb to gravity a bit more.

What the new images truly bring to light is the effect of the triangles of metallic mesh that line the entire roof. As one detail illustrates (pictured right), natural light filters through the canopy into the gallery, giving the interior a warm, golden glow. Seen up close, the interwoven fibers of the mesh evoke a sense of traditional craft, a pleasant surprise for a design that ostensibly boasts the strides of digital computation.

Photos: © M. Bellini – R. Ricciotti / Musée du Louvre

For more images, check out the full article on Architizer.

- Kelly Chan

Tags: Kelly Chan