A new museum to host the Bayeux Tapestry
The Bayeux Tapestry has been on display for 40 years at the Bayeux Tapestry Museum, Municipal Museum, within the Centre Guillaume le Conquérant, former Major Seminary of Bayeux. With 400,000 visitors per year, it attracts audiences from around the world and remains a source of international artistic inspiration.
In light of the recent health studies carried out on this embroidery on linen canvas, a restoration of the work is necessary, and the presentation of the work to the public requires an exhibition on an inclined plane. A museographic project has been in the works for several years.
Usures ©Bayeux Tapestry Museum
The plans were presented to the press and residents of the city on February 2, in the presence of the mayor of Bayeux, Patrick Gomont, the president of the departmental council of Calvados, Jean-Léonce Dupont, the sub-prefect of Bayeux, Adrien Allard, and Stephen Barrett, architect of the company RSHP.
Press conference, 2 February 2024, Saint Patrick Room, Bayeux ©EJouanno
This future museum of the Bayeux Tapestry is announced for 2027. It will remain in the heart of the city Bayeusaine and will coincide the old and the modern with two vast architectural ensembles. A new extension will be attached to the current Major Seminary (17th century) which will be completely renovated.
New presentation of the work
This new building will host the Tapestry now presented on an inclined support of a length of more than 70 meters (linear presentation and no longer curved as it is currently), to meet the conservation requirements, from diagnoses on the material condition of this extremely fragile textile of nearly 1000 years
The Bayeux Tapestry will be kept in an airtight room that will protect it from variations in light, climate and air pollution. Throughout this controlled conservation space, a window will also serve as an exploration showcase for the public. The presentation medium of the work will be tilted in front of this opening allowing visitors to appreciate the monumentality of this pictorial narration, more than 70 meters long.
The Bayeux Tapestry will be placed at the heart of the visit. Through an ingenious construction of spaces on two levels, the public will discover embroidery from different angles and backwards, associated with a reinforced discourse.
The first glance is intended to be a visual shock for the visitor who will gradually discover the work overlooking the exhibition gallery with a 180° view. By progressing towards the beginning of the narration, with his audioguide, the visitor will then benefit from an intimate relationship with the embroidered canvas that unfolds the history of the conquest of England in the eleventh century by William, Duke of Normandy.
By accessing the second level to the interpretation spaces, the visitor will continue his exploration while remaining in visual contact with the original work located below. This new course will allow the public to deepen their experience, immersion in the medieval world, and their knowledge, in support of the results of recent scientific research.
The calendar
- Start of work: after the summer season 2025
- Completion: early 2027
The chosen architecture agency: RSHP
RSHP is an architecture agency of 180 people, present all over the world and awarded with prestigious awards. The architectural DNA of this agency responds to social, environmental and economic challenges, shaping people’s interaction with places/spaces and, consequently, with the planet. The design of RSHP is rooted in thinking, ingenuity and problem solving, always keeping adaptability in mind. RSHP is currently working on projects on five continents, including the master plan for Montparnasse in Paris, an extension of the British Library in London and five new metro stations in Melbourne, Australia.
“It is both a privilege and a responsibility to be given the opportunity to design the museum.
that will house this unique and emblematic object. As a British agency working for a long time in France, there is a certain poetry to be able to contribute to a project that symbolizes the deep ties between our two countries, to renew these ties and to help future generations to rediscover the Bayeux Tapestry, true embodiment of this shared history.”
Stephen Barrett, Partner, RSHP
Partager la page