Installation of the work by Wim Delvoye under the Louvre pyramid in Paris

The Louvre considers itself to be a living museum, in tune with its time, and has been hosting contemporary artists for several years now. Already in 2008 it had opened its doors to the provocation of another Belgian artist, Jan Fabre, who presented disconcerting works in the middle of Flemish paintings.

Wim Delvoye hesitated between two names for this braided stainless steel work: “doner kebab”, in reference to the Turkish sandwich, or “suppo”. “The Louvre preferred the second term which does not refer to any cultural difference and does not discriminate against anyone”, the artist explained. The work, highly sophisticated despite its trivial name, is based on a complex structural metal braiding the continuity of which

is reconstituted by an invisible bolt assembly.

The overall stability is achieved by a mechanical embedding at the tip of the mezzanine located under the pyramid.

Type

Art work

Materials and construction systems

Steel frame

Location

France, Paris

Assignment

Structural design stages, Working and Shop drawings

Architect

Wim Delvoye

Customer

The Louvre Museum

Photo Credits

The Louvre Museum, C&E

Completion date

2012