The mixture between the mind and hands of the designer and the world of art is a frequent phenomenon in the history 20th century design; in this sense, the creative minds of Italian design have participated in the development of great places dedicated to art. Perhaps not everyone knows that, for example, the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, the cradle of impressionist and modern art located a few steps from the Seine, was transformed into a museum from a former railway station by Italian designer Gae Aulenti (Palazzolo dello Stella, Udine, 1927 - Milan, 2012), in a project that took place from 1980 to 1986.

This was an important case of conversion of an industrial building into a museum, which opens a window on various topics, from the ways of reinterpreting the uses of the buildings that are part of our architectural heritage, to the amusing theme of Parisian stations transformed into places for art, like the old stations of the “petite ceinture”, in recent years reborn from the state of neglect and converted into artistic spaces, restaurants and places dedicated to music.

«My principle was to protect the identity of Laloux's building as much as possible without giving up the identity of the contemporary building», Aulenti explained. How to best preserve the Gare D'Orsay, taking note of its particular architectural form (the iron barrel vault), and the historical events that had connoted it? In the 1940s he railway station, inaugurated in 1900 by architect Victor Laloux, could no longer perform its function as its platforms were too narrow for modern trains, and turned into a reception center for deportees during the Second World War. In the following decades, when it was totally abandoned, it turned into an excellent movies location much loved by great directors, from Orson Wells, who here filmed The Process (1962), to Bernardo Bertolucci, who chose the Gare d'Orsay for Il Conformista (1970).

Aulenti remained faithful to her training, inspired by the teachings of her master, architect Ernesto Nathan Rogers, based on the importance of acting first of all as intellectuals rather than architects, and always oriented towards partnerships with other creative worlds, in Aulenti’s case that of the theater: a passion testified by the sets and installations she created for director Luca Ronconi in the 60s and 70s.

The designer hired a team of set designers and architects, from Italo Rota to Piero Castiglioni, who was involved for his deep knowledge of lights. After all, the world of light had always fascinated Aulenti, who studied design materials thoroughly, combining them with her aesthetic sensitivity, culminating in the creation of iconic pieces such as her Pipistrello lamp, designed in 1965 for Martinelli Luce.

The challenge of the Musée d'Orsay for Aulenti was to obtain the right composition between the natural light offered by the large windows of the building and the artificial light, in order to allow a better perception of the works. Hence the choice of a light limestone for the cladding as an enhancement of the 4000 works exhibited in the museum. Large display panels, installed concomitantly with the former rails, were equipped for the display of works, and transverse paths were studied to allow the visitor a free choice of itinerary. The side bodies of the station were transformed into exhibition areas, to which new spaces were added. Aulenti preserved the huge station clock in the main terminal, which still works.

The museum is undoubtedly the most famous large scale creation by Gae Aulenti, but not the only one in the museums field: to be remembered are also her project for the Musée National d'Art Moderne at the Center Pompidou in Paris (1985), the renovation of Palazzo Grassi in Venice (1986), and the project for the Museo Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in Barcelona (1996). The latest exhibition focused on Gae Aulenti's transversal talent was set up at the Vitra Schaudepot in 2020.