France: From Stock Exchange to Museum

French luxury goods tycoon  François Pinault recently announced his plans to restore the Paris stock exchange  and turn it into a museum of modern art. The businessman had been searching for an appropriate home for his €1.25 billion collection—it includes pieces by the likes of Mark Rothko and Damien Hirst—for the past few years. The  stock exchange, better known as the Bourse de Commerce, which once served as the city’s granary, is one of the greatest but least known examples of neoclassical architecture in the City of Lights.  The building will assume its new avatar after a €108 million renovation project, which will include the installation of a giant concrete cylinder by the Japanese architect Tadao Ando. The new museum will include 3,000 square meters of exhibition space; its five-floor layout features a 300-seating basement auditorium and a restaurant on the top floor. It is expected to open in 2019.