Le Magasin, Grenoble

Profil

The name « MAGASIN » is linked to the history of the building in which it is located. The National Contemporary Art Centre is housed in a 3000 m2 industrial hall built in 1900 by the Gustave Eiffel workshops for the Paris World Fair. Bought by Bouchayer-Viallet Ltd from Grenoble, working in the area of hydroelectric equipment, the iron structure was dismantled, transported and reassembled. During the first World War, it became a large center for manufacture of war material. Later on, returning to its original specialisation, it enjoyed considerable international development, right up to the 60s.
After 1960, the Bouchayers diversified their activities: coppersmith's work, milk tanks... From 1970 to 1975, the building was used as a warehouse (MAGASIN in French). It was bought by the city of Grenoble in 1980.
« MAGASIN », written on the blue metallic door, has been conserved and became the name and the logotype of the National Contemporary Art Centre of Grenoble. This name not only refers to the structure's former function but as well to Tatlin's 1916 exhibition in Moscow, « MAGASIN Futurist Exhibition », which was aimed at upsetting traditional aesthetic principles.
Since then, other centres of contemporary art adopted this name : MAGASIN 3 in Stockholm (Sweden), MAGASIN 4 in Bremen (Germany).

The art centre's architectural plan was designed by the architect Patrick Bouchain.
The design team opted for a small scale intervention on the building. The metal structure, the roofing and glass panes were restored to their original state: the walls and the internal pillars were simply whitewashed up to a height of 5 meters from the ground in order to establish a less monumental scale. The vast space under the glass roof of the hall (900 m2) was put to its best advantage by creating a veritable street, which although covered is not heated.
The volume of this space allowed huge "in situ" installations by Daniel Buren, Richard Long, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Guillaume Bijl, Matt Mullican..., in the first years of MAGASIN.
An air-conditioned enclosure was installed on one side, offering an exhibition space measuring 860 square metres.

Glazed Areas restauration in 2005

In 2005, the City of Grenoble, owner of the building, undertook restauration works.
Age had rendered part of the former industrial building unfit for exhibitions. The glazed areas (roof and side windows), a total of some 1600 m2 and features, have all been replaced.
On 21 January 2006, the MAGASIN set up again in the Eiffel hall with new exhibitions.

The Bouchayer-Viallet urban site

Since 2010, restructuration works is lead under the direction of an architect, echoing the urban requalification process undertaken on the Bouchayer-Viallet site. The installation of the future Salle de musiques actuelles next to Le Magasin could have consequences on the opening of a new entry on the south side of the Centre National d'Art Contemporain.