Le musée départemental de la Préhistoire
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 colors 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.
