France – Frank Gehry exhibition tower in Arles is scheduled to open on June 26th

The 56 meter high exhibition tower by the American architect Frank Gehry in Arles in the south of France is expected to open its doors on June 26th. The spectacular building, which consists of 11,000 aluminum panels, is part of the 11 hectare LUMA exhibition complex of the Swiss billionaire Maja Hoffmann, one of the largest private cultural projects in Europe.

As the LUMA Foundation also announced, four of the seven converted former workshops of the French railways are to be fully accessible as exhibition and performance sites at the same time. The millions for the gigantic LUMA exhibition complex come from the 65-year-old art collector. The cost of the spectacular Gehry Tower is estimated at up to 150 million euros; Hoffmann acquired the site in 2010 for around 10 million euros.

The Swiss co-heiress of the Hoffmann-La Roche pharmaceutical company wants to turn the Roman city, which has a population of over 52,000, into a hip art spot. In 2014 she moved to Arles with her LUMA Foundation, founded in Switzerland in 2004 to promote art, cultural and environmental projects. The name of her foundation is an artificial word from the first names of her two children, Lukas and Marina.

Hoffmann is also called “Queen of Arles” by the French media. She co-finances the Rencontres d’Arles, one of the most important photo festivals, and sits on the board of directors of the Van Gogh Foundation, which was founded by her father Lukas Hoffmann. (apa / dpa)