Casino Luxembourg - Forum d'Art Contemporain
The Casino Luxembourg - Forum d'Art Contemporain is an exhibition space for contemporary art in the center of Luxembourg City . The artistic director is Kevin Muhlen .
history
On September 1, 1880, a Société Anonyme named "Casino de Luxembourg" was founded in Luxembourg to create a social get-together for the city's dignitaries. In October of the same year, a plot of land was purchased on the corner of Boulevard Royal and Rue Notre Dame. The two members and architects Pierre Kemp and Pierre Funck won the architectural competition for the construction of the Casino Bourgeois . The prestigious new building received a large dining room on the side of the Rue de Notre Dame and a large hall with a terrace at the rear of the building facing the garden with a view of the Pétrusse valley . The house also had a reading room, a billiard room and game rooms. In 1910 the building was extensively expanded and remodeled by the architect Joseph Nouveau . In addition, the covered terrace in front of the building was converted into a loggia with open terraces. The house quickly developed into one of the city's cultural centers with balls, concerts, theater performances and readings. In 1929 Nouveau and his partner Léon Muller added an attic storey to the house, and the former rotunda in the west became a square hall.
During the Second World War , the casino was used to house the Moselland and for cultural events. From 1943 it was used by the NSDAP as a comradeship house. After the liberation in 1945, the US Army moved into the building. In May 1946 the casino company got the building back and reopened the house after long renovations. In the meantime a gourmet restaurant had been integrated.
In 1975 the end of casino society was near. The need for the house had steadily dwindled after the war. An extraordinary meeting of the members was called and the society was dissolved. In February 1958 the building went to the Luxembourg state. He rented it out to the Cercle Culturel des Communautés Européennes ( European Communities ), founded in 1954 , which used the casino under the name Foyer Européen as a cultural and event center until the end of 1990 . The High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community also used the building for receptions and celebrations. The house was rebuilt for this.
With the preparations for the program for the European Capital of Culture 1995, considerations arose to use the empty casino as an exhibition center. Since there was not enough time for a complete conversion into an exhibition house, it was decided to forego the originally planned basic renovation and to install a temporary structure inside the building. In October 1993 the Luxembourg government commissioned the architect Urs Raussmüller to develop a multifunctional room design for temporary exhibitions.
Raussmüller restored the interior of the casino building to its elementary structures and then erected rooms that were open to the top and independent of the walls of the building, in order to protect the historical building fabric and to create more space for hanging. This resulted in 13 new halls with a floor area of 460 m², a wall height of 3.5 meters and a wall length of 290 m. The entrance hall was retained and, in addition to the visitor reception, also served as an exhibition room. A specialist library for contemporary art was also set up. This interior design was retained until the end of 2015. In March 1996 the casino was finally officially opened.
At the end of 2015 / beginning of 2016 the concept of the exhibition house was revised. The temporary rooms have been removed. The old dining room, which in the meantime had been used as an exhibition room, largely regained its old appearance and became a café. The entrance area was redesigned, the cash desk and visitor reception were modernized and repositioned in the entrance hall.
building
To the rear, the building is defined by a glazed terrace on the mezzanine floor. Behind it rises a richly structured building with a risalit protruding far from the structure with an attic floor with round windows. The likewise richly structured side of the building in the north on Rue Notre Dame is defined by a risalite with a quarter-round arched area protruding into the roof area. On the ground floor there is a round arch portal that serves as access to the main entrance.
Exhibitions
Casino Luxembourg shows group and solo exhibitions on contemporary art, mostly by younger artists from all over the world. But works by established artists such as Sean Scully , Wim Delvoye and Olaf Nicolai have also been shown.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Robert L. Philippart: Le Casino Luxembourg - reflet de valeurs de société . Casino Luxembourg, Luxembourg ( online )
Coordinates: 49 ° 36 '34.9 " N , 6 ° 7' 37.6" E