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Frank Gehry's LUMA Tower opens in Arles

2021-06-25T17:43:00-04:00

Frank Gehry’s latest cultural project has finally opened in Arles, leaving Southern France with a shimmering tribute that the famed architect says is inspired by its most famous resident.

The LUMA Tower is opening today on the foundation’s 27-acre campus after a 13-year planning effort to give the Parc des Ateliers the centerpiece it had been missing since its founding by collector Hoffman in 2013. Officials are hoping for a Bilbao Effect in the tucked-away Provençal city noteworthy for its place in art history, a vision mayor Patrick de Carolis says will shape life in the former home of Vincent van Gogh.

“It’s also an extraordinary challenge that Arles now has to rise to in terms of having the infrastructure, including hotels and transport, to welcome the visitors it will attract,” he told The Guardian. “Now we have to be able to match that level of ambition.”

Clad in 11,000 stainless steel panels, the 183-foot tower rises above the surrounding rooft...

LUMA Arles art complex, featuring a shiny new Frank Gehry tower, to open in June

2021-03-12T17:21:00-05:00

Frank Gehry's team is wrapping up another high-profile project this year: after the $1-billion mixed-use development The Grand topped out in Downtown Los Angeles this week (aiming for completion in late 2021), the LUMA Arles art complex in the south of France just announced its intention to open on June 26 (government-issued Covid-19 guidelines permitting).

The tower in January 2021. © Adrian Deweerdt

Construction on the Gehry-designed tower, the centerpiece of the 27-acre campus at the Parc des Ateliers in the city of Arles, began in 2014. The 15,000 sqm / 161,500 sqft high-rise, finished with 11,000 stainless steel panels, will house exhibition galleries, project spaces, research and archive facilities, an auditorium, and a cafe, alongside workshop and seminar rooms.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Luma Arles (@luma_arles)

"We wanted to evoke the local, from Van Gogh's 'Starry Night' to the soaring rock clusters you find in the region," Frank Gehry ...

Take a look at Frank Gehry’s shiny new Luma Arles tower

2018-11-27T14:05:00-05:00

Its opening has been pushed back to 2020, but the LUMA Arles complex is taking shape in the French town celebrated for its prestigious Les Rencontres d’Arles photography festival. Set on the site of the former SNCF rail yard long used for exhibitions by Les Rencontres, LUMA Arles will be an interdisciplinary arts centre aimed at supporting and producing exhibitions, research, education and archives. It is backed by Swiss collector Maja Hoffmann [...].

The Gehry-designed aluminum-clad tower for the Luma Arles art complex in the south of France is slowly taking shape as new photos by Hervé Hôte show.

The latest photos show a dramatic progress compared to construction photos from June 2017.

View this post on Instagram À l'ombre de la tour LUMA...
A post shared by Luma Arles (@luma_arles) on Jun 20, 2017 at 12:44am PDT

Frank Gehry's Luma Arles Campus is happening (after all)

2014-04-08T14:03:00-04:00

The foundation stones were laid last weekend in Arles for an Arts Resource Centre designed by [...] Frank Gehry, which will be the centrepiece of the 20-acre Luma Arles campus. This hugely ambitious cultural project is driven by the Swiss pharmaceutical heiress and contemporary art collector Maja Hoffmann. At the groundbreaking ceremony, the mayor of Arles, Hervé Schiavetti, not only toasted the French Republic but also declared: “Vive Maja Hoffmann! Vive Frank Gehry!”

“Maja taught me about the region,” Gehry said at the press conference. “We talked about trying to evoke Van Gogh’s Starry Night.”

Previously: Gehry's Luna Park Plan Put on Ice

Gehry's Luna Park Plan Put on Ice

2011-07-25T15:55:00-04:00

Frank Gehry’s vision for a series of his signature folded towers placed in the heart of the historic Parc des Ateliers in Arles, France will have to wait – as the project has just been put on hold. The French National Commission for Historical Sites and Monument has rejected two of the five necessary permits required for the Luna Park campus development to commence.

UPDATE: Frank Gehry's Luma Arles Campus is happening (after all)