Kengo Kuma in Angers

Kengo Kuma visited Angers for the first time since his agency was selected in October 2020 to create the contemporary gallery of protection of the portal of the Angers Cathedral. He took the opportunity to discover in detail the polychrome sculptures of the portal of the cathedral of Angers but also to visit various heritage places (tapestry of the apocalypse), meet elected officials and especially work during a technical meeting with the experts of the DRAC of the Pays de la Loire.

The day ended with a lecture in front of 90 people at the Museum of Fine Arts. He recalled in particular that he wants this gallery to be harmonious and respectful of the work of the builders of the Middle Ages

Kengo Kuma

Kengo Kuma, born in 1954, is a Japanese architect whose agency has two offices in Tokyo and Paris. He recently led the construction of the Tokyo Olympic Stadium (inaugurated in December 2019). Sensitive to the dialogue between architecture and historical or natural heritage, it is responsible, in France, for the extension of the Albert Kahn Museum (Boulogne-Billancourt) and the restoration of its gardens (under construction). It was chosen to build a contemporary gallery on the western portal of the cathedral of Angers.

The portal

Saint-Maurice d'Angers Cathedral has a sculpted western portal dating from the 12th century^e century, which was protected by a gallery built in the first third of the XIII^e century, demolished in 1807. In 2009, work to clean the portal, revealed remains of medieval and modern polychromies that were the subject of an ambitious campaign of studies and an exemplary restoration conducted by the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs (DRAC) Pays de la Loire: this portal now appears as one of the rare testimonies of the polychrome cathedrals in the Middle Ages.

The DRAC has carried out several studies and these have revealed that only the construction of a new permanent protection would be able to protect this exceptional ensemble permanently. After several historical and archaeological studies, the data collected were not considered sufficient to envisage an identical reconstruction of the old gallery. For this reason, an architectural competition has been launched for the realization of an original project of creation of a contemporary gallery protecting the portal on the western facade of the medieval cathedral.

The site

Construction is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2023 for one year. The gallery could therefore be completed in the summer of 2024. Archaeological excavations will be carried out beforehand on the square (4 months from February or March 2023). The gallery project is entirely funded by the State (DRAC des Pays de la Loire).

The conference