Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa from the studio Sanaa are the winners of the competition for the new outpost for the Louvre at Lens in the district of Nord-Pas de Calais. The project should generate a tourist economy in an area that for decades has been the heart of French mining and industry.

The design consists of nine pavilions in glass and steel, partly set into the ground with roof glazing. This group of buildings blends in perfectly with the surrounding environment and sits well in the existing natural park thanks also to the help of landscape architect Catherine Mosbach.

This aspect gave Sanaa’s design the leading edge over the other two finalists, Zaha Hadid from the UK and French architect Rudy Ricciotti. The new Louvre will house many pieces from the Paris museum (600-800 works) as well as temporary exhibitions (1,700 square metres). Work is due to start next year, to be concluded by 2009. E.S.