By 2009, the Louvre will have a wing specifically for its impressive collection of Islamic art – one of the largest of its kind – which includes more than 10,000 pieces spanning the 7th to 19th centuries. The new wing will be authored by Mario Bellini and Rudy Ricciotti, the winners of the contest held last year by the Paris museum. This duo defeated ‘rivals’ of the caliber of Hadid, Coop Himmelb(l)au, Faoci, Soler, the Chartier-Corbasson-Tazdait group and Moatti-Rivière.

The strong idea behind this victory lies in the design for the covering of the wing: a floating luminous veil comprised of thousands of small glass disks . This undulated structure, which will seem to flutter in the air, will cover an area of 3,500 square meters, divided between two levels (one on the basement level and the other on the level of the Neoclassical courtyard) on the southern side of the museum.

To the contrary of the usual role of veils, however, the “Cour Visconti will not be hidden but will always be visible”, the designers assured. Inside the wing, the itinerary will be a continuous one illuminated by natural light which will filter through a special iridescent surface designed to allow the intensity of the light to be adjusted. The total cost for the whole operation is estimated to be 50 million euro. E.S.