A real local industry that heavily radiated

Tell in detail the history of the castle of le Grand-Pressigny is a challenging one as well for the connoisseurs for the people of the cru, the place is still mystery. Overlooking a village of a thousand souls, South of Touraine and 25 km of Châtellerault, the historic site marks the landscape for eight centuries. The fortress of the 12th century remains the Dungeon. The Château de Savoie - 16th Villars family wing flanked by two turrets Renaissance cutting field in his mid-life, with the Court of the common on one side and the Court of honour of the other. Become drive and even inhabited the site hosts more permanent since 1988 occupants when a portion of the Dungeon collapsed.

In this central region rich in prehistoric evidence from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic era, an embryo of Museum was installed in the wing Renaissance as early as 1955. The General Council of Indre-et-Loire chose today to give a true status including to show the unique Fund of flint pressigniens cut in long blades, or "book of butter" in the name of the 19th, in a nearly as hard as the Obsidian stone. A real local industry that heavily radiated.

Open after three years of study and work, classified site "Historic monuments" now appears sunken and peaceful around two restored courses. The body of building designed by the Parisian architect of German origin, Bernd Hoge, is the happy hyphen between the ages. The book is also the result of a fruitful dialogue with the Chief Architect of Historic Monuments, Pierre-André Lablaude, as well as with the curator, Catherine Louboutin, present since the origin of the project.

A surface four

Very clean and stalled on the existing templates, the building of two levels fits smoothly, including the ruins of the old quarters without it touching. The local limestone quarries being almost exhausted and unsuitable material in new construction because of its brittleness, the architect opted for a stone of Burgundy of Massangis perennial and non-Frost, implementation on 10 centimetres in depth to constitute the facades. Cabover prépatiné copper roof blend into the environment. The holes are of two types: thin vertical slits arranged randomly and large bays justified on the landscape. The Interior is light. Clarity is reinforced by the generosity of spaces, in particular the home double height, and the harmony of three main materials, wood, stainless steel and glass. Large volume which houses a part of exposure to the dessert also floor three rehabilitated cellars and Renaissance refitted, Gallery creating sort three distinct routes according to the stated desire of the curator. Scenography sobriety entrusted to the Agency Guliver Design while slides without déparer. Before the accuracy of the prehistoric tools, each was modesty in a fluid and coherent architecture "designed and built to last", says Bernt Hoge. In total, Museum will be quadrupled surface - without count created reserves within the village - and especially won in beauty both by the richness of its collections by completely revamped presentation, at a cost of EUR 8 million. Thirty thousand visitors a year are now expected in this framework of exception which traces the diversity and quality of the prehistoric productions to an almost industrial stage.