Made from wood, printed or painted cardboard, silk powder, sand and iron wires, these models of fortified cities represent six French cities, seven Belgian cities and a city in the Netherlands, at a scale of 1/600th, as they were in the 17th to the 19th centuries. Made in painstaking detail, in a way, they can be understood as the predecessors of modern-day aerial photos taken by drone!
The plan-relief room did not exist until 1997! It was entirely imagined and designed by the architects Jean-Marc Ibos and Myrto Vitart during the museum's renovation. It took more than five years of work to create this 700 m2 space, dug out under the atrium.
Sober and pure, the architectural style evokes the regions of the north and the flat country, privileging horizontal lines and creating an infinite perspective thanks to the interplay of transparencies with the display cases.
In line with the work of the original architects, the plan-relief room was redesigned between May 2018 and January 2019. New lighting, new digital museum tools, an unprecedented look at the plan-relief of Lille, workshop space, video and more. Today, these works are housed in a resolutely modern setting.
Detail 1. A plan-relief under restoration.
Detail 2. Close-up of a plan-relief.
Made from wood, printed or painted cardboard, silk powder, sand and iron wires, these models of fortified cities represent six French cities, seven Belgian cities and a city in the Netherlands, at a scale of 1/600th, as they were in the 17th to the 19th centuries. Made in painstaking detail, in a way, they can be understood as the predecessors of modern-day aerial photos taken by drone!
The plan-relief room did not exist until 1997! It was entirely imagined and designed by the architects Jean-Marc Ibos and Myrto Vitart during the museum's renovation. It took more than five years of work to create this 700 m2 space, dug out under the atrium.
Sober and pure, the architectural style evokes the regions of the north and the flat country, privileging horizontal lines and creating an infinite perspective thanks to the interplay of transparencies with the display cases.
In line with the work of the original architects, the plan-relief room was redesigned between May 2018 and January 2019. New lighting, new digital museum tools, an unprecedented look at the plan-relief of Lille, workshop space, video and more. Today, these works are housed in a resolutely modern setting.
Detail 1. A plan-relief under restoration.
Detail 2. Close-up of a plan-relief.
