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Musée départemental de la Préhistoire, Nemours
Architectural manifesto of the second modernism, the ‘Musée départemental de la Préhistoire’,
built by Roland Simounet in Nemours (France) between 1976 and 1980, was born from a new
museological thought, that of Georges-Henri Rivière, inventor of the ecomuseums.
Going beyond the simple technical response to the program, the rudimentary expression of
this work emerges from a true architectural narrative. Listed in the supplementary inventory
of historical monuments since 2002 and labeled “20th century heritage”, the building reveals
Simounet’s taste for empirical subjects. In addition to pure functionalism, the syncretism of
form and structure is the privilege of architecture. Borrowing from both the profane and the
sacred, it alludes to both the figure of a fortified medieval castle and that of an ancient temple
surrounded by nature, thus reviewing the basics of its practice.
The collections are set up with Roland Simounet, who designed the museum’s furniture
and all the museology. The perfect integration of the wall showcases with the architecture
reinforces unity of this presentation for which only gray, black and white are present in order
to enhance the colours and patinas of the archaeological pieces, as well as the environment of
the courtyards and the park that surround the museum. The large and wide glass windows
that frame the landscape, alternate with the circuit of windows that connect the archaeological
pieces.
Today the weathered concrete is fond of the surrounding vegetation and the millennial rocks of
the park.
LE MUSÉE DÉPARTEMENTAL DE LA PRÉHISTOIRE
