A museum dedicated to the life and work of French fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent is situated in the Moroccan city of Marrakech. Designed by the Top Architects Studio KO, the building sits a short distance away from Jardin Majorelle – the home acquired by Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé in 1980.
With a large permanent exhibition space designed by scenographer Christophe Martin, showcasing the collections of its namesake, the contemporary museum also features temporary exhibition spaces, a research library and archives, an auditorium, bookstore, and a terrace café.
Informed by the archives of Yves Saint Laurent, Studio KO was “struck by curves running alongside straight lines; by the succession of delicate and bold forms.” As a result, the façade of the building appears as “an intersection of cubes with a lace-like covering of bricks,” forging patterns that “recall the weft and warp of the fabric.”
The modern museum‘s 400-square-metre permanent exhibition space is designed by scenographer Christophe Martin and showcases 50 couture creations.
More than 50 garments, most never before seen, are displayed in an understated environment, one without affectation, which accompanies and underscores the work. An immense, luminous and radiating portrait of Yves Saint Laurent envelopes the garments.
It is with great joy that we have worked on this ambitious project, and contributed in our way to the history and prestige of the most influential fashion designer of the 20th century
the architects continued.
